LTA Aero vs Merason Reuss vs Mojo Audio Mystique Y?

The LTA Aero has been in my system for 6 weeks now.  I started with the GE 12SN7 and those were a bit sterile sounding. Moving to the Ray Reserve 6SN7 was much better. I have a collection of NOS 6 and 12SN7's and I will say that the Aero does respond to tube rolling. Now I have the Sylvania "Bad Boy" 12SN7s and it sounds great. I've tried NOS Tung Sol "mouse ears", also great sounding, but different from the Sylvania tubes. I didn't care so much for the 1960's orange print RCA tubes. My favorite tube so far is the Brimar CV1988. These add  a nice touch of warmth to the sound. I have not tried my Ken Rad 6SN7s yet.

The other thing I learned about the Aero is that it's sensitive to the signal it's being fed. I still play CDs and at first I used an SMSL PL200T transport, with a SBooster power supply. I didn't think a more expensive transport would make a difference until I tried a TEAC 701T. When I went back and forth between the transports the SMSL had a bit of glare to the sound.

@nogaps I too have the D/S ll Pre which have the LinLai Global Es in them. A+ in my setup. My system is set up for analog, so I had to do some tube rolling. I forgot to mention that I just took ownership of a Innuos Pulsar streamer last Thursday. With the GE 12sn7s that came with my Aero the sound was a lil congested. I guess it was the house sound of the Pulsar. So the hole weekend I rolled my stash from the Global Es to my NOS tubes. Coming from a Wiim ultra that has REW, I thank God I found the right combo of tube to my liking. The K/R chrome tops are staying!

 Now the hunt for another set.... Happy listening Dan

@danmar123 

My DS2 pre was purchased used and it came with a pair of Linlai E-6SN7 and a pair of Psvane CV181 TMKII in it,  Sounds wonderful.  I haven't done any tube rolling in it yet as my system has been in multiple component upgrade mode for a while and there's no point in swapping tubes until it settles down into one, longer-term system.

I also have the DS Kootenay amp..though haven't installed it yet as a second system is also "in-progress".  I have a McCormack DNA-1 out for a rebuild now and a LFT-8c bass unit upgrade coming.  I hope?? to try the DS2/Kootenay combo on my LFT-8c speakers..I see reports of people running them with moderate-powered tubes..we'll see.  If not, then the SMc Ultra amp, when I get it back, will surely do the job. 

At some point..I'll give the Ray Reserve 6SN7s try. I am leaning, in general, toward new production tubes though.  There's finally some decent options coming to market. NOS is such a rabbit hole and with some major sellers retiring it'll get more interesting yet..and more expensive...been there.

@nogaps Loose the Psvane tubes, mine also came with them from Don. I purchased his personal unit (not that it matters). I had to get tube socket extenders to install the Globals on my unit. When you get the Rays try the 2 in the left sockets first & let them settle in there. Then move them to the right & see what sounds better in your setup. Everything matters. You sound like you have a GOOD plan. Sometimes you don't need for any changes to settle in. Either it works for you , or it don't. I've changed power cords & immediately I noticed the difference. 

There's a lot of fan fair with the Ray tubes, but I'm not interested myself. Welcome to the hole of the Rabbit! Happy listening.

I upgraded from Merason Frerot with power supply to Metronome Le Dac2. I loved the Frerot and was informed by several dealers that to hear substantial differences serious money should be invested. The Frerot is that good. So I ended with Metronome Le Dac2, which has a similar analogue sound characteric, but at a much higher level.