My experience is nope…testing or matching seems to have minimal impact on SQ especially with preamp tubes.Triodes that are unbalanced sound just as good as long as one side tests strong. Matching and gain balance on output tubes does matter more. I have a tube tester that is very helpful for comparing tubes and validating whether a tube is good. Just my humble experience on my system…
Do vacuum tube test values reflect sound quality?
I recently ordered a pair of output tubes to try in my LTA MicroZOTL preamp. Two Sylvania 6SN7WGT tubes, Gold Brand. I’ve had good luck with Sylvania 12sn7gt bad boy tubes, so I thought I’d give them a try.
After I bought them, I saw a similar pair for more money that had slightly higher test values. Does that mean they might sound better or that they just have more life left? What properties do you look for in tubes?
Below are the values of the tubes that I bought.
Tubes are matched for dynamic gain and structure, testing at 3000-2750 and 3000-2750 where pass/fail is 1625 micromho. They have the same structure inside and out, having matching date codes of "922", the 22nd week of 1959
Showing 2 responses by tksteingraber
@lewm +1 |