Calling All Tube Gurus


I know everyone loves to have their tubes come from the same date codes and manufacturers. But just how critical is this?


If you can determine that a tube was made in the same plant, has the same construction and date codes, how critical is it if the tube was made by Siemens and rebranded as an Amperex? Or let’s say the tubes has the same construction but were manufactured within a year or so of each other?


I’ve heard people say that if a manufactures tubes are not up to their standards, THOSE are the tubes they send out to the other manufactures for their branding. Fact or fiction?


Has anyone experimented to see how these variables actually affect their music? I realize everyone has their own tolerance to what is acceptable to them, and that it can also be system dependent, but I am curious to the findings any of you may have.

elrod

First let me say, I’m certainly not an expert. I’ve owned a CJ amp for the past 13 years. After talking to a number of very experienced CJ owners with a plethora of institutional knowledge on the CJ owners group, I switched to matched tubes several years ago. All four of the output tubes on my amp are matched even though they are individually biased. I also matched the signal tubes. If you are interested in purchasing matched tubes, it’s important to purchase tubes from a reputable supplier with all the required equipment to properly test and match tubes. Kevin at Upscale Audio is a reliable source in the USA. However, his prices are a little higher and most come with a guarantee. Rolling tubes can get expensive. I’ve found talking to people that own or have owned the same equipment for an extended period of time to be the most helpful and reliable. In the end, only you can determine if the added cost of matched tubes make a sonic difference in your system. Luckily in my case, CJ has an online owners group that is extremely helpful. Again, a number of non judgmental people with a lot of institutional knowledge and experience. I’ve never run across a rude or condescending person on the CJ forum. Hope this helps. 

Back in the day when tube everything was more common, when a tube went out we would search Dad's tube drawer for one that was the same size and number of pins and replace it.  The biggest concern was trying not to too badly burn your fingers finding which one blew.  Seemed that whatever you dropped in sounded fine. Really just happy to get it working again to keep listening to the music. 

You should contact Brent Jessee at 847-496-4546. He know everything about tubes and is awesome to work with.  Here is his website.

www.audiotubes.com

@elrod 

The good and the bad of using tubes is there a lot variation.  The biggest variables are brand and how much they’ve been used.  If you have a decent system and decent ears, you should be able to hear the differences. Recently I bought some used PS Audio hybrid gear.  The preamp came with PSVANE tubes and two extra sets. When 5 out of the 6 tubes that came with it started making a clicking noise and PSVANE would NOT help, even though they knew they put out a bad batch of tubes, I was forced to start tube rolling a bit sooner than I hoped.  I Bought some Tung Sol’s, some Genalex and some RCA tubes.  All three sets sounded different. One had better bass. One had a better high end and I have found that the RCA Cleartops sounded the best to me.  The reason I told the story was, try to imagine that you had two different brands in each channel or one new tube in the right channel and one well used tube in the left channel. The two channels would not sound the same.

Oh and I will never buy PSVANE tubes ever again!!

All the best.