Let's roll some tubes

Anyone else out there an avid tube listener?If so, do you do much "tuberolling "( swapping of tubes to alter the sound characteristics of audio equipment)?I use solid state gear as well but I love the sound of tubes, especially in a headphone amp.Ever listen to an all tube tuner?A few friends have a small group in Chicago that trades tubes and get together to listen to the results.I say a few friends because we usually meet at the last minute when we find out someone has something tasty.Just curious.

Hi guys,
sorry I took so long to answer posts.Lots of really cool stuff going on.My brother bought back an Audio Note tube tuner from London last week.We just got it converted to US voltage(a real pain) but it sounds beautiful.I am going to A/B test it against the Jolida he is using now and post a review.

I use JJ tesla EL 84m in my MG head along with a Telefunken ECC83.After rolling a bunch of tubes at this amp this is what I like best.The teslas give a nice neutral sound.The highs are not too bright even when using Grados with the impedance switched low.These have nice controlled bass that is not too "thumpy".The sovteks that came in it sound pretty good too but I would stay far away from the Jan/Phillips.These made this amp sound way too dark,kind of like it sounds before it gets warm.The Telefunken seems to match best with the teslas.


I use Seimens ECC833 in the AH! njoe tjoe 4000.these are the best.I actually have only tried three different tubes in this player so far,but the sound was so awesome with the seimens I just have been enjoying it too much to roll them out.


In my Fisher 400,believe it or not I still have the original 7868s.I have changed all the 12ax7s over to Sovtek 12ax7lps which sound really good in this old reciever.I am actually listening to WBEZ's Jazz show on 91.5 fm right now and this thing sounds great.these old tube recievers are the forgotten gems of HIFI.This thing has a tube tuner,tube dual phono stage,tube powered headphone output(which I must say sounds much better than the Musical Fidelity XCAN V2 which I have for sale on ebay)and of course,a 28 watt per channel tube stereo amplifier.I have the lights down low,I'm sitting here on my laptop at 3:45 am Chicago time watching the warm glow of the tubes.

There are several tube stores in Chicago and some good dealers and show rooms as well.I will post tomorrow with the names of people I deal with at the places I frequent.


fred

Hi,
Yage.
To answer your question abot the njoe tjoe.yes Kevin Deal at Upscale strongly suggested I try these.I'm glad he did.The difference is in a word"BASS".Everything that the stock tubes lack here the siemens make up for.This is one of the few times when my wife could actually here the difference between tubes,and honestly one a the few times where the sonic changes did'nt improve greatly in one area and suffer in another.this tube seems to maintain that nice open soundstage but pick up the bass that you know belongs there.To clarify,I don't mean that the bass is louder or greater but that there is a better seperation and better detail in instuments like an upright bass and drums.Before, these sounds all sounded the same.Now they can each be clearly distinguished.

The Audio Note and the Jolida are both nice tuners,But I will tell you, the Audio Note is such a nice looking,well built piece of equipment.It is a shame that these are not imported.Sound wise a comparison is still in the works.

I really like Jolidas entire line.They have very good sounding equipment and at very reasonable prices.I think they suffer some from people's price vs. performance perceptions.I had some dissapointments with the 603a cd player.the transport was awful,but the player sounded sweet and tuberolling brought about significant changes.


As far as dealers go in Chicago and the suburbs I like Saturday Audio Exchange in Chicago and Holm audio in Woodridge.Randy at Saturday audio is a Guru and does not try to upsell eveything and offers good useful suggestions.This place carries all the high-value lines such as Jolida,Nad,PSB,AMC,Creek,Musichall,KEF and others.Web address is Saturdayaudio.com.Albert at Holm audio is the man,He knows that Antique soundlabs has nice,low cost stuff and is not afraid to admit it,even though he sells Cary and VTL equipment too.His store carries the real high-end stuff and he is very proud of that,but he is a down to earth guy.he knows everyone can't afford that stuff and tries his best to offer suggestions.He steered me away from buying a very expensive turntable he knew I would'nt like, to a Musichall at another dealer. Albert is also a fellow tube roller and stocks all the good tube brands.His web address is Holmaudio.com.I hate Promusica on clark street.this place is full of audio snobs,you do not matter there.

Fred