Manley Steelhead Tube Rolling

I have to repectfully disagree with the above two posts. As a long time tube head(built my first tube amp from a kit in the 1960s) I think tube rolling is not only fun but most times an improvement in sound reproduction. I changed out the stock 6922 in my Steelhead and added NOS Siemans CCa. I left the stock 7044 in place. In my system, I found the Siemans more detailed and musical than the stock 6922. There was also improved clarity and transparency. Were the changes night and day? No, but obvious improvements.

Tube rolling is the ticket. The manufacturer set the gear up to sound the way they wanted it to, which is not to say it sounds as YOU wish it to. Tube rolling modifies the sonics, to the tastes of the listener, and is easily reversible.

If you can't play with the tubes, what's the point? That's half the fun of having tubes, tailoring the sound to what YOU like, not the mfg.

Would the steelhead mate with a Mcintosh MC402?

The Steelhead is very, very fast and dynamic, so it would probably mate well with this amp.
Tube rolling is just fine for the Steelhead. Most manufactures don't use current production tubes because they are the best sounding. They will stock their products with what is currently available in new production and assume that the knowlegeable audiophile can provide his/her own tweaks. My steelhead sounds much better with NOS amperex 6dj8 and 6922. Current production sovtek 6922's kinna suck, though the older NOS ones are supposed to be better. You don't really need to change the buffer tubes.