Buy new tubes, or use "stock tubes?"

Tube rolling is a lot fun...onced found the right tubes...it will change the sound dramatically.

Btw,ask experienced users of the same gear as yours as what Maineiac advised.Good luck.

If you can find experienced users of your equipment that have established specific tubes that work well then by all means try them out.

If you buy new stick with what they are shipped with while it is under the warranty. If anything does go wrong the first thing your dealer is going to ask is "What tubes you are using?". Also getting used to the stock Chinese tubes at first may just help you appreciate NOS tubes.

Have fun!

12 AX7s are NOT equivalent to 12AT7s. They may "work" but they are not the same tube.

Thanks for your response. AS I said-not familiar with tubes. Haven't had any since a stripped my folks old stereo 30 years ago. The A2SE has (2) 12AT7's and (1) 5687WB. I'm not familiar with either. Have heard of 12AX7's and they may interchange. Anyway, given what tube types this preamp has, know any better brand tubes for it?

I agree with Elizabeth and Kurt (tongue-in-cheek) tank in that I would advise that you listen to any unit you buy for a long while with its stock tubes and enjoy it. If after that time you are dissatisfied with the sound you can consider tube-rolling, but save that for when you've decided what sort of sound you're looking for. And if the reports from the field are that tubes keep going bad every 6 months in a particular unit, perhaps you might want to consider a more reliable piece of equipment (it is not always the tubes' fault, necessarily).

I have a Mcintosh MA2275, tube rolling made a huge wonderful improvement........ the stock tubes were horrible. I've bought from Upscale Audio and The Tube Depot with great results.

I completely disagree with Elizabeth!

You should immediately go out and buy as many expensive NOS tubes as you can find. (And, at least one of each type, and better yet, two, as you'll instantly have a backup set for the ones that you like the best!) This will allow you endless fun listening to the same music, over and over and over again, comparing the different tubes! Nothing says "Confirmed Audiophile" like a guy with hundreds of spare tubes! Oh, and don't forget to buy a tube tester while you're at it! No TRUE Audiophile is without one!

Elizabeth, on the other hand, didn't want to buy any of the multitude of tubes I had for sale, (let alone the tube tester!), and instead, (foolishly I might add!), chose to spend her time listening, (and somehow, enjoying), her music, foregoing the pleasure of endlessly swapping out tubes, and exactly how each and every tube differs ever so slightly in its sonic attributes! (Silly girl!)

;-)