Tube recomendations for a newbie


I have just purchased a Mingda Mei Xing tube intergrated amplifier. I live in Shanghai, China. I'm new to tubes and the amp is supplied with Chinese tubes. I'm wondering if swapping tubes on this amp will provide better sound quality? If so, any recommendations? I believe the tube configuration is: EL34 x4(JJ)、12AU7 x2、12AX7 x2. The system will play mostly jazz, classical, reggae. Speakers are Wharfedale evolution 2 bookshelf speakers. Thanks...
dgplo

Showing 1 response by newbee

Tube rolling can be fun, and it can certainly make a meaningful difference. I do it all the time.

But it is a learning process and you must start with an objective, that is, after your unit is well broken in you have to be able to identify what about the present units sound you want to improve and identify which tubes is most likely to get you there.

Then you have to identify the tubes which can move your sound in that direction. BTW, I usually expect to get larger changes using power tubes and smaller, but more critical in the final analysis, from small tubes.

You are right to take your time! But start reading up on the subject by following the forums and seeing what users have to say about the general quality and tone of the available tubes used in your amp so when you do decide to move you will be reasonably well informed and have a good basis on which to begin.