Are driver tubes as critical as gain stage tubes?


In an amplifier, do driver tubes need to be matched, balanced, like new, or quiet?  For example, is noise as important in a driver tube as it usually is in a gain stage tube?  If you must allocate resources among various tubes in an amp, where are the driver tubes in the heirarchy? 

lloydc

Showing 1 response by serblinfan

Normally, they shouldn't matter match, but it depends on how advanced and "finished" your system is. If your system is advanced and if you have spent lots of money on it to make it sound nice, even driver tubes will matter much. Otherwise you should be OK :-)