Tube Rolling for Pre-amps?


I have an Audio Research LS-16 that feeds a Madrigal Proceed HPA2 solid state amp. 

I did not choose this equipment; it was given to me. From what I can tell the original owner spent a good bit of time matching up these two components with the speakers, Aerial Acoustics 7Bs.

The tubes in the AR are original. Probably 10-15 years old? But with an extended period of not being used.

The system sounds good to me. I don't need to change anything.

However, I've been told that the tubes are old and may need to be replaced soon. I've also read a little bit about tube rolling but most of the articles I've seen talk mostly about tube rolling with amps and not pre-amps.

So I have some questions:

1) If the original owner wanted a system that sounded like a 'tube' system, why not have a tube amp and pre-amp? Does it make sense to have a tube pre but SS amp?

2) Other than outright failure, how will I know if my tubes _need_ to be replaced?

3) With a SS amp, will changing tubes in the pre-amp have a noticeable impact on SQ? In other words, is tube rolling for a pre-amp played through a SS amp a thing?

4) For someone like myself who is happy with the system and who is also easily frustrated by A/B testing is tube rolling the pre-amp even worthwhile? I can almost always hear a change when comparing various components but only rarely am able to say A is better or worse than B.

( I probably can't even articulate effectively what I look for in terms of SQ except that I like the bass to be tight, precise, well defined and not boomy. I do not like the music to be overly bright or tinny. I like depth and lushness but not overly warm. Not sure if these are things you alter with tubes.)

Thanks for any advice.


n80
Think the tube pre and SS power
covered above (also what
i use) pre really defines the sound.
and tube rolling in pre doe make
a differance most of all in a phono input stage as levels lower. I switched fine JJ ecc83
for telefunken and then a Siemens 5751 tube and the midrange opened up even more. And then the sound was good and I stopped.
 
If you like the system then just enjoy it
@n80- You got me thinking about my tube inventory. I found a NOS pair of these(the exact same vintage/iteration tubes as in the description, except- the printing on mine is still perfect): https://www.ebay.com/itm/E88CC-6922-AMPEREX-N-Y-USA-GOLD-PIN-TUBES-JAN-USN-MATCHED-PAIR-1960s-MDGGZ/... If you like, I’ll send them(gratus) and you can experiment. They were a tad too warm(for my tastes), when I tried them(maybe 17 years ago). Even if you don’t care for the sound, it should let you know how much impact tube rolling can have.
@rodman99999 : Thank you for your extremely generous offer. I would like to try that. I will PM you with details and arrange to compensate you for shipping, etc.
@n80 - No need for shipping costs to you, only a mailing address. You only cover the return postage(USPS’ smallest prepaid box), if you don’t want to keep them them in your system. No strings!