Tube Rolling Advice for the Backert Labs Rhumba Extreme?

@jsqt ,

Since you have such a nice inventory of the 12AU7s, I would like your thoughts IF you get a chance to listen to the Psvane's new ART series. They have bowled me over. The work "mesmerizing" comes to my mind.

As this thread is about tube makes and models that do especially well in Backert preamps, I'm going to reiterate my recommendation of the--admittedly rare and costly--Amperex 7316.  This is what Brent Jessee has to say about them.

Simply an amazing tube. Amazing both because it sounds so incredibly good, and amazing how rare it is today. The 7316 was made by Amperex in Holland, I have never seen this in any other brand, nor have I seen it made by Amperex North America. It is a medical grade/aircraft equipment grade super low noise tube, not sold to the general public. It is Amperex's answer to the ECC802S produced by Telefunken, and the 10M series made by Mullard. Most have the Bugle Boy on the label, although I have seen plain Amperex labels, and OEM labels such as Beckman Instruments. The 1950s vintage with the long plates and D-getters are to die for. They are among the best sounding and rarest 12AU7 around today. Don't miss the 1960s halo getter version of this tube, as well. They sound nearly as good as the D-getters and are usually half the price. Very few dealers ever have the 7316 of either type in stock, well worth seeking out and worth the higher price. We try to keep a few of each type in stock, but it is not easy. Better buy them when you can find them!

Unfortunately, it's all true.

@milpai I’ve just started my tube rolling journey with my Rhumba Extreme 1.3, and my first change was to the Psvane Art Series. Holy mother of tubes! After only 9 hours on them, they are already a giant leap ahead of the stock Mullard tubes. Thanks for rec! After the first hour, they excelled in all areas except bass extension and the vocals were still somewhat thin. But now, the sub-bass region is gaining some weight and overall, in the Extreme 1.3, they make my system sound really incredible. I’m looking forward to the other tubes that are en route to me, but i think these will be hard to beat... I suspect even by the NOS stuff.

Edit:  By the way, I'm not using any damper rings on the tubes.  The Backert pre is on Townshend isolation pods and the cables going to it are also isolated from vibrations.

I was talking to a long-time audiophile on the phone a couple days ago and he said that tubes don't make that much of a difference in sound compared to fuses.  This is just two 12AU7 tubes on a linestage, and the difference is very profound.  I'm more doubtful than ever about his claim

@gladmo 

Good to know that the Psvane ART tubes worked for you. Hope you enjoy them for a long time. I have no experience with tubes and hence in no position to comment.