Nos ribbed telefunkens- for her pleasure!
Tube Rolling for Pre-amps?
I have an Audio Research LS-16 that feeds a Madrigal Proceed HPA2 solid state amp.
I did not choose this equipment; it was given to me. From what I can tell the original owner spent a good bit of time matching up these two components with the speakers, Aerial Acoustics 7Bs.
The tubes in the AR are original. Probably 10-15 years old? But with an extended period of not being used.
The system sounds good to me. I don't need to change anything.
However, I've been told that the tubes are old and may need to be replaced soon. I've also read a little bit about tube rolling but most of the articles I've seen talk mostly about tube rolling with amps and not pre-amps.
So I have some questions:
1) If the original owner wanted a system that sounded like a 'tube' system, why not have a tube amp and pre-amp? Does it make sense to have a tube pre but SS amp?
2) Other than outright failure, how will I know if my tubes _need_ to be replaced?
3) With a SS amp, will changing tubes in the pre-amp have a noticeable impact on SQ? In other words, is tube rolling for a pre-amp played through a SS amp a thing?
4) For someone like myself who is happy with the system and who is also easily frustrated by A/B testing is tube rolling the pre-amp even worthwhile? I can almost always hear a change when comparing various components but only rarely am able to say A is better or worse than B.
( I probably can't even articulate effectively what I look for in terms of SQ except that I like the bass to be tight, precise, well defined and not boomy. I do not like the music to be overly bright or tinny. I like depth and lushness but not overly warm. Not sure if these are things you alter with tubes.)
Thanks for any advice.
I did not choose this equipment; it was given to me. From what I can tell the original owner spent a good bit of time matching up these two components with the speakers, Aerial Acoustics 7Bs.
The tubes in the AR are original. Probably 10-15 years old? But with an extended period of not being used.
The system sounds good to me. I don't need to change anything.
However, I've been told that the tubes are old and may need to be replaced soon. I've also read a little bit about tube rolling but most of the articles I've seen talk mostly about tube rolling with amps and not pre-amps.
So I have some questions:
1) If the original owner wanted a system that sounded like a 'tube' system, why not have a tube amp and pre-amp? Does it make sense to have a tube pre but SS amp?
2) Other than outright failure, how will I know if my tubes _need_ to be replaced?
3) With a SS amp, will changing tubes in the pre-amp have a noticeable impact on SQ? In other words, is tube rolling for a pre-amp played through a SS amp a thing?
4) For someone like myself who is happy with the system and who is also easily frustrated by A/B testing is tube rolling the pre-amp even worthwhile? I can almost always hear a change when comparing various components but only rarely am able to say A is better or worse than B.
( I probably can't even articulate effectively what I look for in terms of SQ except that I like the bass to be tight, precise, well defined and not boomy. I do not like the music to be overly bright or tinny. I like depth and lushness but not overly warm. Not sure if these are things you alter with tubes.)
Thanks for any advice.
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- 75 posts total
@n80- You got me thinking about my tube inventory. I found a NOS pair of these(the exact same vintage/iteration tubes as in the description, except- the printing on mine is still perfect): https://www.ebay.com/itm/E88CC-6922-AMPEREX-N-Y-USA-GOLD-PIN-TUBES-JAN-USN-MATCHED-PAIR-1960s-MDGGZ/... If you like, I’ll send them(gratus) and you can experiment. They were a tad too warm(for my tastes), when I tried them(maybe 17 years ago). Even if you don’t care for the sound, it should let you know how much impact tube rolling can have. |
rodman99999....that's very nice of you! Those are very decent tubes, so @n80 should hear an improvement with those. I love this community! |
- 75 posts total