I had a LS7, which is not even in the league your Reference One is, but I have rolled some tubes with various results. I have tried the factory-supplied tubes, with dampers, Amperex PQ’s and Amperex Bugle Boy’s. The factory tubes were OK, the soundstage was wide, but not real focused. It seemed a little muffled to me, especially comparing to the other tubes. The PQ’s were really quite an upgrade. The soundstage became very focused and the bass extension was noticeable. I tried the BB’s, and I felt they had the best feeling of depth, I ended up keeping them. My system has some lacking points, especially the speakers. I also don’t have any room treatments yet. The one tweak that had some effect on the BB’s was brass tube dampers from Mapleshade. It seemed to give the center stage better focus and better definition of the instruments.
Tube rolling is fun and there is definitely a difference between tubes, even within the same brand and model. Just pick a batch and start trying. Other have had good luck with Telefunken and Siemen tubes, but I haven’t tried them yet. I hope others will post on this, because there is a world of knowledge by some of these folks. Hope this helps a little.
Tube rolling is fun and there is definitely a difference between tubes, even within the same brand and model. Just pick a batch and start trying. Other have had good luck with Telefunken and Siemen tubes, but I haven’t tried them yet. I hope others will post on this, because there is a world of knowledge by some of these folks. Hope this helps a little.