For me it’s all about listening to the music and not being too analytical, and I’m an engineer. But tweaking is a fun part of our hobby.
I love the sound of tubes but I don’t trust myself or hype to pick them for my setup. I have always gone to Brent Jesse at audiotubes.com for his recommendations. It’s amazing the experience he’s had with a tremendous variety of equipment manufacturers. He gets lots of customers feedback on the success of his recommendations. What’s interesting is the best sound in my equipment does not come from “names”. And the preamp tubes have a much bigger impact than the power tubes, but you already know that.
Just my experience, but I don’t know shit