Is upgrading stock tubes standard proceedure?


I'm just wondering if I'm the last guy to realize just how enormous an improvement can be had by upgrading stock tubes to NOS. Most of my system has been in place for some time now and I've sought to improve it's performance by tweaking. Tube changes have resulted in noticeable but subtle results; most of the time involving trade-offs... until now. I just upgraded the 6922s in my cj Premier 17LS to Amperex 6DJ8s with stunning results. I can't find any trade-offs, everything desirable in audio is improved IMHO. This is the kind of improvement I would have been looking for if I bought a new preamp and spent twice the money. As much as I've read about tube rolling, based on what I'm experiencing now, there isn't enough emphasis, especially by professional reviewers.

So, I guess my purpose in writing this thread is two fold:

1) Why don't tubes receive at least the same attention as the equipment they're in.

2) Just a heads-up in case there is anyone else out there who thinks they can't justify $100 or more for a small tube.
phaelon

Showing 2 responses by mrtennis

many current-production tube components have circuits which are not tube sensitive. i have encountered many examples of this phenomenon. in such cases, replacing stock tubes is not beneficial.
mcintosh claims that changing tubes will not change the sound of an amp or preamp. i can confirm that when i auditioned and reviewed the c220 preamp.

whatever differences existed were so small as to be insignificant.

the bat vk d5 cd player is another component which does not change its presentation when changing tubes.

the eastern electric mini max cd player is yet another component who's sound did not change when replacing the tubes.