Is there a strategy in preamp tube placement?

@coachpoconnor yes, in my SLP-98 and sparing you my vintage 6SN7 tube trials with RCA and Sylvania Black Plates I own and tried, I’ve been experimenting again with newer tubes some.

• TJ Full Music 6SN7s in the all four spots (most transparent, more detailed)
• Psvane CV181-T MKII (6SN7) in front spots and TJ Full Music in the rear (smoothed over a bit too much for my taste, yet still nice)
• TJ Full Music in the front spots and Psvane CV181-T MKII (6SN7) in the rear. (nice balance, best over all, smooth, yet detailed, musical)
• Tung Sol 6SN7GTB in all four spots (too veiled, weighty bass, smaller sound stage, a little grainy, not preferred) my trusty backup test tubes at best.
• EH factory 6SN7s, a little lean, sitting in their original boxes stored away for the day I resale my 98 preamp down the road. 

@pindac "The reports being made on these Tubes are generally good and have got my attention".

For sure. After trying various matched pairs and matched quads of vintage over a decade, along with several loaners from friends, now mothballing them away in storage and going through some of the new boutique tubes coming available the past 1-5 years has been worth it. Following these same engineers from factory to factory design teams is interesting. Linlai are next for me to try.  Some of the better quality and better sounding tubes coming out is a nice option to have. I’m still in the 1-2+ year longevity evaluation phase on my last three quad sets. Time will tell.

re: " The Full Music seems reasonably priced, might have to experiment."

To @coachpoconnor, I went with them long before the Linlai came out, and was tired of chasing quality matched pairs and quads of vintage 6SN7s any more. A SET/Triode obsessed gear friend of mine turned me on to them a few years back. Its worth following the other 6SN7 thread on Agon for more info. I would not say they are better than Linlai, yet I do like the TJFM better in some ways then the psvane CV181-MKIIs, and vice versa in other ways. Different sounding tubes, comparing them to each other.

That’s where I started mixing them within the SLP-98 for an enhanced result. Like mixing in a little butter and lemon for a good pasta dish, hahaha. :)

If you have Linlai now, will be interested in your feedback if you mix them with psvane or TJFM later on. I started doing this to have at least 2-3 other type quad sets in reserve while I mainly keep my vintage stuff tucked away and rotate them in every once in a while. Honestly, no need for it after I got the TJFMs in rotation, and they fit and seat down very well in the 98. PM if interested, I get them from their largest distributor overseas, with fewer middle-men and handoffs in shipping, helps reduce shipping damage some, and this dist packs them well layered in cotton, good boxing. Cheap insurance actually.

They learned this years back after a series of tubes failing after poor packing/shipping. Mine have 2yrs run-in on them now. So far, like mixing psvane/tjfm. Having another quad of Linlai will be good. Thx