Do clothes make the man?

as the tube warms up: the meter shows ..bad .... ? .... good   with increments so you can compare the basic strength,

i.e. you buy a ’matched quad set’. check them when you receive them, make a note. new tubes are not 100, i.e. they might be 68 or 72 ... when new.

then as they age, and you check them every 6 months, you see how they compare. tubes can last thousands of hours which is many years typically, it depends on how hard they are driven by the amp design. some amps, same tubes, are 35 wpc. another amp, same tube, driven harder is 55 wpc. those tubes life will be shorter.

there is a separate ’shorts’ test, sometimes shorts occur, you found the problem, toss it/them.

that’s all I want to know when I buy new ones, test them, and to rule them out if a problem occurs.

the tubes, unmarked, were put in those Viva boxes by someone. You could have at least known their comparative strength, and tested your new ones when you received them, note their strength when new, verify they are very close to each other.

others, want ’mutual conductance’ testers, I can’t be bothered. I’ve been listening/testing/replacing tubes since 1973. I had a big Jackson, had it calibrated, my little one, the basics always agreed with it, I gave it to my friend. He brings his tubes here, he doesn’t use it either.

Just the basics, like drug store eye glasses. I just ordered new lenses for my existing frame, $680. I’m not compromising on my vision, but I ain’t spending $680. on a tester too big and heavy to easily use. I keep my little Accurate 151 on a small shelf next to my tube equipment. I bought a nicer newer Accurate model 257, I prefer the one my wife surprised me with on my birthday, so I gave it to a friend I met here.

for 10 years between 1973 and 1983, I stood in line at the tube testing machine in the local electronics store, testing every damn tube from the Fisher President II console I inherited. My feet/legs/back hurt just thinking about it. The poor people waiting in line behind me, 

In non-Valve systems, the importance of searching for synergy between selected audio devices is not unusual as a subject being discussed within a forum. Less common, but regularly seen as a discussion is the reports made and the responses about systems where actual changes are being made. Where a replacement has not delivered what was expected regarding the assessment of the produced end sound, or a discovery is made where an improved synergy is perceived and is being shared as a result of a change made.

Changes within a system being made can be easily achieved, such as swapping out an easily accessible part, for example, a Valve replacement, a Cable swap, a Device swap, or an improvement to an already in-use device, such as a change to a Power Supply.

 The types of changes being made that are referenced above are not invasive; a circuit is not at risk of being affected by the change that is occurring.

Circuits do undergo changes being made to key components, but this is invasive and not for the inexperienced to undertake. The task does require a certain level of knowledge and skill to create a safe working audio device. Invasive changes to a circuit are able to create similar impressions that are able to be referred to when a Valve is exchanged. The impression made from an invasive component exchange can be one where the exchange part is discovered not to be attractive as an influence on a produced end sound, or wanted to be maintained as a new design for the production of the end sound. There is also the outcome where a discovery is made, where the new designs' influence on the end sound is wanted to be maintained.   

The OP has discovered through their own activity of exchanging a component that the action undertaken suits their purpose. For the OP, synergy is perceived to be improved throughout the system as a result of their choice of a Valve type. Especially when compared to the device manufacturer's choice made for Valve's.

As stated, Valve exchanges are not cheap. Input Valves can easily creep towards $200, and Power Output Valves comfortably surpass the $200, depending on Type and Brand. I assume the cost to the OP is bordering on $400.

As a Valve audio equipment user, and one who has rolled quite a selection of Input Valves on owned equipment, and who has also, on occasions, experienced Power Tube rolling on non-owned equipment. At a time later on in owning Valve equipment, I have been fortunate, regarding the Valve, to have developed friendships with individuals much more experienced than myself in this subject. This has resulted in my being loaned numerous Matched Valve Pairs from different eras of production, as far back as the 50's era. Loaned Valve Pairs in the usual markets can be seen to have asking prices extending to £400. I am comfortable in my estimate that I have been loaned in current market pricing, Valves that are near £2.5K - £3K+.

Prior to the Valve Rolling experience, I was familiar with a small amount of the information available about some of the Brands being offered to use and would have considered them the cream of the options available to be selected.

During Valve Rolling, what is remaining indelible as a memory is how quickly a Valve thought of as being high up on a list as a best option was to be speedily deselected to be not continued with. The other indelible memories are when a Valve was able to be a show-stopper, a jaw-dropping reaction.

When a show-stopper reaction occurred, the owner and supplier of the loaned Valves would not describe what was occurring as a better valve was discovered; the explanation given was that synergy was discovered.

For myself, with much less experience, I was cock sure a Valve was now in place, able to produce an end sound that was very much wanted and was the only end sound to be maintained. Purchases and follow-up testing of the made purchases were soon to commence.

I once more state: Valve Rolling can prove to be very, very expensive, and the more Valves used across audio devices in a system, the more Valves are needed to discover where the synergy is found that really suits the system owner. The endeavour becomes much more difficult to create synergy across all the valves in use. Expensive purchases can be made and the outcome is not exactly one that has the attraction that is expected. 

I have great experiences with Valve Rolling and am not a discourager of it; if the cost is not prohibitive, why not indulge? 

Others with more experience and who are advocates of Valve equipment and non-Valve equipment have shown to me through demonstration of their work that invasive component exchanges in a circuit are more than capable of creating a change to a device's end sound that is perceived as being a substantial betterment. This is quite a feat when the parts selected can be very low Dollars as a purchase price. 

There is no single way, but if Valve replacement is occurring and manufacturers' selections are not being maintained, then why not consider the notion that other, less costly components within the circuit, if replaced, might benefit the end sound produced by the device?      

@abnerjack  What speakers do you pair it with?

I have used tube gear for many decades and always thought about buying a tube tester for the very reasons Elliot described. However, I’m not sure I would know how to use one correctly or even confirm it was calibrated. I’m sure some of us are old enough to remember going to the local pharmacy or supermarket with a bag of TV tubes Mother wanted tested.

@lanx0003   I'm using a pair of Verity Audio Parsifal's, only the top section which includes the tweeter and midrange, not the bottom part which includes the woofers,  I use a pair of Rel's to fill out the bottom end.  These are around twenty years old and I am amazed at the sound.  I bought on the cheap, best bargain ever.  Verity never published the specs for the top part only, but I'm estimating the mid 90's, a nice easy load and a perfect match for the horn mono's.  Any thought on a good signal tube?