@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.
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
rodman99999....that's very nice of you! Those are very decent tubes, so @n80 should hear an improvement with those. I love this community! |
@mofimadness : Very nice indeed. I am often taken aback by the kindness of folks I don't even know. I hope to be able to pass on such kindness in the future. Now I am a little worried about whether I will hear a difference or not as I don't have a lot of confidence in my ears. I will have my wife listen with me. @rodman99999 : I have PM'd you my address. Now that I'm actually going to get to try tube rolling I have some questions: Access to the internal of my LS-16 is easy. Just a few screws. I'm assuming the removing and replacing these types of tubes is just a straightforward firm pull up to remove and firm downward pressure to install.....no twisting or locking? Wear gloves to keep oil, etc off the tubes? When I Google tube changing the issue of biasing comes up, mostly with guitar amps. Is this something I need to worry about with my pre-amp? The manual does not say anything about that. My pre-amp uses four tubes. Someone said above that I should be able to tell some difference with just two but I'm not sure where to put the two replacement tubes. The layout is like this: V1 V2 V3 V4 Apparently when new the tubes are actually marked V1-V4 for exact location. If I hear a difference with two will that difference by more pronounced with a full set of four? If I like what I hear with two of these tubes and decide to get two more how precisely do they second two need to be matched with the first two? Is it okay to buy the same brand and designation or will they all four need to be tested and matched? Sorry for questions that might seem obvious but this is new to me. George |
- 75 posts total