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Are cryo'd tubes always better?

I recently purchased a tubed phono pre. I read upgraded tubes can greatly improve the sound, so I purchased some cyro'd tubes to go with it. Im waiting for all to be delivered.

The experiece prompted me to post my question: Are cryo'd tubes always better? Is it a matter of longevity or sound quality or both? Thanks in advance for your responses.
tbromgard
mofimadness's avatar
mofimadness
5,783 posts
 
This is only "my" take on cryoed tubes. I have the same tubes from the same supplier, one pair is cryoed, the other is not. Same batch codes, same date codes ordered at the same time. I can't tell the difference.

So when I buy tubes now, if they are cryoed already, cool. If not, I won't pay extra for them.

Again just my opinion, YMMV.
josefm
53 posts
 
Always? Dunno, but from my experience with a couple small 9pinners, the cryoed version was 'better' or more to my liking than the non-cryoed versions. Batch numbers were not closely matched so it coulda' been just due to sample to sample variations.

YMWV
geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
Cryo improves the performance of almost all materials, glass, plastics, metal, etc.. However, I think it wise to wait at least a few days, maybe as long as a week, before listening critically to allow the cryo'd material to recover from thermal shock.
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