Tube Rolling and the Quest for "perfect sound"

some people in this hobby are a bit obsessive compulsive

myself included

it is fun but often a sideways step

imo ymmv of course...

More often than not a tube CD player will sound best with the tubes it was designed with. Not all tubes are equal and to really hear how these tubes are changing the sound you should bias each and every tube you try. The problem is there are no bias adjustments for these tubes, so you are not getting a true representation of each tubes effect on the sound.

Excerpt from Wikipedia on the subject of Psychoacoustics:
"Hearing is not a purely mechanical phenomenon of wave propagation, but is also a sensory and perceptual event; in other words, when a person hears something, that something arrives at the ear as a mechanical sound wave traveling through the air, but within the ear it is transformed into neural action potentials. These nerve pulses then travel to the brain where they are perceived. Hence, in many problems in acoustics, such as for audio processing, it is advantageous to take into account not just the mechanics of the environment, but also the fact that both the ear and the brain are involved in a person’s listening experience.”

I guess its one of those things that just can’t be said too often: There is no perfect sound. There is no absolute right choice. The quest for perfection or even the "right choice" is noble, only if one takes pleasure in the rewards of the never ending journey.

Phaelon, I like your post, but if there is one thing I have noticed, when the sound is good and I mean really good, everyone agrees that it sounds good. Well, except for the people that think their stereo system sounds better than live music.

A manufacturer isn't going to have a set of $600 tubes sent out in new equipment, it's the same as getting the generic $3.00 powercord with equipment purchased.

It's up to you to purchase the more expensive tubes just as it is with the powercord