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-   -   Is tube rolling purely a McIntosh activity? (https://www.audioaficionado.org/showthread.php?t=19871)

Leon 03-17-2013 09:26 AM

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:

mraudio 03-17-2013 02:16 PM

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.

rlw3 03-18-2013 05:23 PM

only bad thing about tube rolling is finding that perfect tube and not being able to buy another when it wears out

AKA_Hyfi 03-19-2013 08:04 AM

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.

rob.hughes 03-19-2013 12:13 PM

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.

jdandy 03-19-2013 03:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MtnHam (Post 460356)
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!!

MtnHam.......Really? :laughin:

MC352 03-19-2013 04:47 PM

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.

Tonepub 03-20-2013 03:02 AM

And it can drive you to madness! :)

cma29 05-25-2013 12:07 AM

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.

cma29 05-25-2013 12:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mraudio (Post 461973)
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.

Wow. That's impressive.

Do you have any extra Siemens or Amperex 7308/ E188CC tubes to sell?


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