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Do new NOS tubes need break-in/running-in?

I have bought a few Mullard ECC88 NOS tubes and to my lousy ears, found no sonic differences between these and my current Amperex ECC88. Quads were used in my ARC LS-16 preamp.

If there is such a thing as break-in for tubes, will NOS tubes sound any different and/or better after break-in? If break-in is required for NOS tubes, what is the rough estimate for break-in period?

I have a strong feeling that I won't be able to get significant sound improvements/differences after prolonged listening hours. Maybe my preamp is not too susceptible to different tubes?

Any opinions or advice would be much appreciated.
ryder

Showing 2 responses by ryder

ryder OP
1,682 posts
 
Thanks for the responses. Usually I check the archives before posting but this time I'm little impatient I guess.

I've owned Sonic Frontiers Line 1 and find it to be not sensitive to tube rolling at all. I will try to run-in the tubes longer and hopefully the ARC will not exhibit this similiar trait. Well Onhwy61, your system looks great too.
ryder OP
1,682 posts
 
I am little relieved after reading the post by Majicjazz. At least now I know the ARC preamp will be quite receptive towards tube rolling.

Thanks for the comprehensive post Jbaxley. I will see if I have time to check on the etched codes on the Mullards this weekend as it requires a bit of work to unplug everything and get the piece out from the shelf. Hopefully they are not the same Amperex tubes as I paid quite a bit for the NOS.
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