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Tube Rolling in my Pathos

I discovered the other day that the tubes in my Pathos Classic One MkIII were not the same brand...take break to watch any remaining credibility walk out the door...so with the help of someone on a Pathos group on FB I picked up some Mullard tubes.

I put the new-to-me tubes in last night and unexpectedly have been able to listen to music quite a bit today.  The Mullard tubes (that replaced a JJ and Audible Illusions combo) clearly resulted in a superior sound that is significant enough that the difference can be captured via iPhone video and heard through average earbuds.  I'm not saying that it's necessarily possible to evaluate which is better with the earbuds, but as unscientific as the two videos are I think there is an obvious difference.

Based on this experience and after reading multiple articles and forum posts over the years, what is your experience with tube rolling as it relates to the particular sound of a tube?  Here's a few specific questions:

(1) How much of a factor in the sound of a tube is its age?  How different would a brand new tube (once broken in) sound compared to an "identical" one that had been in use for several years?

(2) How much of a factor in the sound of a tube is its construction?  If I had two pairs of new "identical" tubes should I expect to hear any difference between the two pairs?

(3) How consistent is the characteristic sound of a tube?  How important is it to get tube recommendations from owners of similar/identical amplifiers?
mceljo
chakster's avatar
chakster
6,144 posts
 
Buy NOS vintage tubes from reputable sellers who can actually test each tube (matched pairs if needed). New JJ tubes are junk compared to vintage tubes from the brands like Sylvania, RCA, Telefunken, Mullard etc. Reputable sellers do not sell fake tubes. They know a lot about tubes and can answer your questions. Some NOS tubes are expensive, some are not expensive. 

Do not buy used tubes (those that test bad). 

New tubes will not last forever, turn off your equipment wheb you are not using it. 

What you hear using tube audio equipment is tube, this is why tube rolling is so popular. 


tomcy6's avatar
tomcy6
2,589 posts
 
Are your Mullard tubes new production or vintage (pre-1980)?
jond's avatar
jond
5,807 posts
 
I just wanted to say I think Tube Rolling IS My Pathos would have been a much cooler title. ;)
mceljo OP
1,357 posts
 
@tomcy6 - I don't know for sure.  I purchased them from a fellow Pathos owner that likes in the UK.  He said the EC88 Mullards are UK Blackburn's.  He measured them and here are the numbers:

Tube #1: 15.0/19.0 and 13.7/16.5
Tube #2: 15.0/17.5 and 13.0/15.0

He also offered me a pair of 70's Siemens Berlin ECC88 tubes.  They measured:

Tube #1: 15.2/15.0 and 14.3/16.0
Tube #2: 13.8/15.5 and 13.9/16.0

I have no idea what the measurements mean.

I opted to go for the Mullards based solely on his recommendation of them being his favorite in his Pathos Classic One MkII and Pathos CinemaX amplifiers.
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