Is tube rolling purely a McIntosh activity?
Is tube rolling a McIntosh activity or do owners of other brands of tube equipment do it as well?
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I've got a box of about 20 or so 6922s that I've rolled in and out of the 6922 based CJ preamps that I've owned....so yea, In my case, I've rolled. :banana:
The good news is I've gotten over this addiction in recent months, I was worried I'd wear out the tube sockets! :nono: |
I've always rolled tubes with all of the tube gear I've owned, and none of it was McIntosh. It truly can be a sickness. Looking for rare tubes, trying out different brands and styles. Hoping that next batch will have the elusive tube that brings everything together like a ray of light shining down from above...
The exception may be Shindo owners. All the tubes are hand selected for each piece, not to mention that most if not all are from stockpiles bought many years ago. There's no need to swap tubes when you have the best of the best already. |
Tube rolling is huge within the headphone amp community.
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Tube rolling. For any equipment that uses tubes. NOT just McIntosh.
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I have multiple non Mac devices that use tubes. Rolling is an addiction for some of us.
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Tube rolling is like trying a fine old wine that has been mostly forgotten. It's amazing to think that exceptionally rare tubes of yesterday have been stored unused for 50 years & are only now being energized by enthusiastic high rollers.
What I hate about this thread is that it reminds me to stay on the hunt which often results in another big spend on a risky NOS proposition. |
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Yes! Tube rolling has been practiced by tube equipment aficionados (particularly preamp tubes) as long as tube equipment of all sorts has been around! Contrary to the general opinion of many members of this site, the world of fine audio does not exclusively revolve around McIntosh gear!!
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Most musicians like myself are also into tube rolling with their amps. It's truly amazing how two different brands of the same tube type can sound different.
One of the mysteries of the universe I guess... :scratch2: |
I have never owned a piece of McIntosh gear and have 3 drawers full of tubes. Probably well over $25K worth, so no, tube rolling really has nothing to do with McIntosh specific equipment.
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only bad thing about tube rolling is finding that perfect tube and not being able to buy another when it wears out
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I rolled the tubes in my first tube pre, Sound Valves 101i, and recently both my VAC pre and Counterpoint Amp. I have a happy combo right now so not going overboard.
I recently got some NOS 6FQ7 RCA Cleartops for the Counterpoint and they made my Dynaudio speakers sound like never before. |
Definitely not McIntosh only. I even have a cable that uses a tube to energize the shield, and I've rolled tubes in that, aside from rolling tubes in my other gear. And since everything in my system except the CD player is tube, that gets expensive, quick. For now, I've kind of settled on some stuff, and have decided to focus on upgrading, rather than just rolling. Of course, as soon as I get some of my system upgraded, I'll be back to rolling since I'm pretty sure I'll be sticking largely to tube based gear.
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I have been rolling tubes for years, in many different pieces of gear. It's certainly not McIntosh centric. Ivan is right, it can be an addiction.
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And it can drive you to madness! :)
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I do some rolling with my Audio Research LS5 Mk II preamp.
This unit runs on ten (!) 6922 / E88CC tubes. The first and second gain stages use 4 tubes each. The cathode follower stage uses 2 tubes. When I first got the LS5, it came with steel pin JJ Teslas. After that I tried German-made Audio Research NOS from the 1980s. Nice improvement. In its latest configuration I am using Siemens 7308/ E188CC tubes in the first stage and Amperex military grade 7308/ /E188CC tubes in the second stage and the cathode follower. This last set of ten tubes set me back over $500 and that was a great deal. |
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Do you have any extra Siemens or Amperex 7308/ E188CC tubes to sell? |
Mraudio....if you have a couple of Telefunken ECC803S or the Siemens triple mica in gold pins equivalent that test at spec & you would consider selling, I am receptive to a PM. :D
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Same with the 6SN7s. The reissue Tung-Sol are terrific. Better to my ears than either NOS RCA red-bottom or GEs. Tube rolling is part of what it is all about. Tailoring the system to one's own taste. |
I roll like crazy, and I've never had McIntosh tube amps (though I've love to hear them one day). Got lots of vintage tubes, and I believe that lots of the new production stuff is excellent. No, I haven't found new production tubes that are as lovely as say a Tung-Sol round plate 6SN7 or a Mullard long-plate 12AX7, but they do offer many fine options for perfecting system balance that are affordable, available, and sonically competitive with all but the best (sometimes unobtanium) vintage types.
In fact, I'm looking at various new production 6CA7/KT77/KT88, 12AU7, and maybe 12AX7 to roll into my system. My preamp uses 8 of the EH 6H30pi, and these superb sounding tubes are known for their extreme reliably (not much in the way of rolling options here, though). EH KT90 and KT120 both work great in my amp. Some gear and some positions react more to rolling. Changes in my amp's output tubes and phase splitter/inverter are currently the big sensitive slots in the system; well worth rolling here. My prior VAC preamp and current phono stage are less rewarding to rollers, but fortunately they both ship with new production tubes and sound great as-is. |
What is great is finding some tubes you really like then pulling them out of the equipment never using them so they dont wear out............
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I've rolled tubes in all my gear.
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I have a fairly modified Mingda MC34-AB valve amp that I have tried a few different valves in both NOS and new production. I run a pair of Mullard ECC35 tall bottle brown base in the input stage as well as some Brimar 12AU7's. The Mullards are considered to be holy grail valves and for good reason they are very clean and open sounding with huge soundstage. I like them so much I bought a mint second pair, very expensive but worth every cent in my opinion. I run 8 x Svetlana Winged C new production EL34 valves in the output stage which I am very happy with. Having said that all the caps/resistors have been upgraded and I use these big old vintage chokes and the amp has been completely re-wired point to point with nice 7N copper solid core.
I would run some quality NOS output tubes but the cost x 8 would be huge! |
I've rolled tubes in Dynaco, Cary, Audio Research, Vincent, California Audio Labs and of course McIntosh. :D
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Hi,
I rolled at least 30 NOS types of 12AU7 in my VTL preamp. And you really feel the differences. This job is addicted! |
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+1. Absolutely!! |
There is a thread in the Cary Audio section of AA focusing on the new Dennis Had amps dealing with tube rolling in those amps, especially the power amps. It currently has run for a few years, has over 100 pages of posts, and remains active.
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I have a set of Mac MC40 monoblocks that have been restored electronically. For tubes I went with vintage good stuff. From all the reading that I have done on Mac tube amps, they seem to be the least responsive amps when it comes to tube rolling. The sound is shaped from the circuitry and the massive output transformers.
On the other hand I have several SE amps that respond well to tube rolling. I just took delivery the other day of a Dennis Had KT66 FireBottle amp, this amp is supposedly a tube rollers dream. BillWojo |
I've rolled mostly in my MFA Magus with great results. I'm currently using a Siemens CCa in the 6922 spot, a Siemens E81cc triple mica in the 12AT7 spot and a pair of Telefunken ECC83 medical grade ribbed plates. I use this preamp as a phono stage only and I love it!
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Have rolled tubes in my Luxman integrated and two Woo headphone amps.
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Tube rolling appears to be prevalent with Lampizator DAC users as well.
Ken |
If no one has mentioned PrimaLuna, well then-- PrimaLuna is well suited for tube rolling as well.
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I own vintage Mcintosh amps but I really don't tube roll 'em. Tele smooth plates all the way in the Mc225's. Sylvania JAN 12AX7WA & GE 6DJ8 smokies in the Mc-3500's.
Just recently rolled a pair of Tele's ECC88 in a Lamm LL2 and a "huge" difference. Out go the stock Russian 6H23, whatever these are who knows. The LL2 also came with GE 12au7 that just ran out of steam after ten years, replaced with RCA clear tops. Nice neutral tube with a little zip on the top end. The biggest improvement, replacing the GE 6X4 with a british GEC 6X4 from Upscale. tightened everything up. Next up the Manley Steelhead but waiting to purchase a new cartridge first. Possibly Amperex 6DJ8 Bugle boys or a fresh pair of Tele E88CC gold pins from Kevin at Upscale. Also waiting to go in, a quad of 1949 Tung-sol 5687 ladder plates. Don't want to waste time on these tube over a Denon 103 cartridge, so tube rolling on hold for the Steelhead. May pop the Bugles in as I have extra pairs. |
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