Tube Rolling for TAD-150


I will receive my TAD-150 tomorrow. I read some great reviews on this unit. Has anyone had the chance to do some tube rolling with this unit. How do the stock tubes compare with other NOS tubes?

Other components; Vandersteen 2CE sigs, McCormack DNA-1 AMP, Adcom GCD500 CD, Thorens 160 C with Goldring 1012 cartridge and LINN Basik plus arm. XTC interconnects, Signal cable and FRO-ZEN power cords....

Eagleman
eagleman6722
I've tried the following tubes;
Stock chinese 12AT7-dry and quite harsh
Brimar 13D5-not much better than stock
RCA 12AU7 cleartop- nice tube, good bass extension and great highs.
RCA 12AU7A- same as the cleartop.
Tunsgram ECC81-much more interesting. similar sound as RCA cleartops with more gain
Sylvania 12AT7WA green label-now were talking great tube.good bass extension,lush mids and crystal clear highs.
Sylvania JHS 12AT7WA-even better than the above tube. It was described to me as the Bing Crosby sound. It is that.
Last I tried a pair of GT12AX7M that I had originally had in my TAD-1000 amps. This was quite a shock as it was very near to the Sylvania JHS tubes, readily available, cheap, and more gain.
Yes I've been very busy this past year
Ecruz: The 5751s are much better than the stock tubes in every way. Comparing the 5751s to the Tele AX7s I would say that the bass is tighter and more defined with the 5751s. They both put out sweet mids and highs. I'd probably give the edge to the Teles in these departments though. Both tubes are excellent.

Onotu2: I used smooth plate Teles. I like the Teles better in my Fisher 400 than the 5751s. So I made the switch back. I am very satisfied with the 5751s in the TAD-150 though. You really never know how a tube will perform in a circuit until you try it.
I'll second those Groove Tube x7s. I picked up some on Ebay (it was cheaper than tracking down quality Sylvania, Raytheon or GE 5751s) and, WOW. Nice seperation and sound stage; very 5751 like. The have a bit more bite (punch), just enough creaminess, and they're not broken in yet! Thanks Mike.
I bought a couple of those GT for the TAD=150. How do you get the pre cover off. Just unscrew the screws on the side? Sorry for the dumb question but, I have not rolled any tubes yet in the pre.....
Getting to the tubes in the TAD-150 is a bit of a chore...you need to unscrew the top screws as well as the four upper screws on either side of the unit. After you remove the cover, you need to unscrew the two screws that secure the reflective chrome "box" that sits behind the tubes, then slowly (and carefully) slide out the box.

Re. tubes, I had very good luck with a matched pair of cryo-treated Ei ECC83 (12AX7), which were also quite reasonably priced. I am currently using a pair of matched NOS Telefunken 12AT7 from Andy at Vintage Tube Services. The sound is amazing but they weren't cheap.

Interestingly, I tried one of the Groove Tube "Mullard reissue" 12AX7s in the 12AX7 slot of the TAD-60 and found it produced a bit of hum in my speakers that I don't get when with other tubes...maybe I got a lousy tube, people seem to like it.