Audio Aero Capitole Amp

Kevin at www.upscaleaudio.com has always treated me fair and is really good for his word. There are lots of threads on tube dealers. I suggest you do a search on 'Kevin' in the archives and lots of tube dealers will come up as his name almost always included in discussions of reputable dealers.

unclejeff, do you have a tube dealer that you could recommend?

Replace the stock JJ tubes with Svetlana 'winged C' or the JJ Blue Bottles. Instead of the 6550 tubes, try KT 88 tubes, again Svetlana are a good beginnng.

The 6sn7 tubes are a bit more work, but you can do much better than the Billington tubes, or so I hear. I am currently using some Sylvania NOS tubes.

This amp is really different and most tube dealers don't have experience with them---especially with an amp that is running this combination of tubes.

The most reputable dealers will make suggestions but will concede they have not precise experience with this amp.

Unclejeff, My amp came with Billington Gold 6sn7gt, JJ E34L and STA (Selected Tube Audio) 6550c tubes. Were these the tubes that the Capitole most likely came with when new? Which of these tubes would you recommend me rolling?

Caspuza, If you like the JJ E34 tubes, try the JJ 'Blue Bottle' Tubes. They work well im my Capitole. Yes, I agree that starting with good tube rolling is best.

This is not the answer you have asked for, but it may be of some help:
Good 6SN7s are MUCH more important than cones in a Capitole amp. I prefer Sylvania JAN 6SN7WGTA. Others like NOS TungSol or the european equivalent tubes.
It also pays to roll the output tubes. I prefer JJ E34L and Gold Lion KT-88 from current-production tubes. They do make a huge difference.
IME Herbie's Isocups do a great work of isolating tube amps from external vibrations (better than BDR cones IMS).
Enjoy your amp

As an aside to your question, I want to give you a heads-up on an improvement I made on my Capitole Amp. The power source went out and I sent it to an approved technician in Texas and he upgraded it and when the amp came back the improvement was really nice. Prior to this I must say that I was not as impressed with the amp as i had hoped to be. Since, it has become an amp I have no intention to part with. Also, this amp is very sensitive to tube rolling; more so than many.

I look forward to comments/answers to your questions.