Amplifier Power tubes - important to sound?


i replaced all the small tubes on my mono amplifiers and now I'm left with replacing the stock Power tubes, kt88.

I like what I hear with 12 new small tubes - telefunken nos 12ax7 and 12at7. 

Now I am left with replacing 16 kt88 stock JJ tubes.   will Probably use Siemens 6550 nos.

How much will this impact what I hear do you think?  I recall hearing that power tubes don't make that much of a difference.

 

emergingsoul

I've heard that before - various incarnations of "rolling tubes in this slot won't affect the sound", because "they're cathode followers with 100% feedback" etc. Still haven't met a slot that doesn't affect the sound. It's directly in the audio path.

You can have components that are "voiced" for the specific tubes it ships with. Sometimes components have a strong voicing on their own. In these cases, tube rolling may not readily yield satisfying results - but it WILL affect the sound. Always. Now is it a useful endeavor; a good use of time & money? That's for you to decide.

It's not surprising some manufacturers would discourage rolling. When you owe warranty support on these heavy, complex amps - do you really want users rolling them with power tubes willy-nilly, from unknown sources and questionable matching? Plus they may sell their own branded (labeled) replacement tubes, at healthy markup. 

"In the chaos and frenzy for something ever newer nobody stopped to ask if it was actually better."

It's better in a lot of ways but some of them are not related to the sound of the audio output.

Do any tube sellers match tubes at real world plate voltage and current under load?

I'm sure Jesse does. This is the greatest place to buy tubes in the entire whole wide world

I'm sure Jesse does. This is the greatest place to buy tubes in the entire whole wide world.

I sure he's good, but unless he knows what gear you are using, how does he know what the tubes will be operating at?