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Originally Posted by jdandy

Charles.......The basic recipe is excellent. You are merely making minor adjustments to the seasonings. And so it goes with tube rolling. Lots of fun.

It can be fun, but also frustrating if my attitude is wrong or curiosity takes over to the point I lose track of what I'm after and start chasing sound instead. I replayed some tracks from the Hans Zimmer blu-ray this week and the power of the low frequencies gave me a slight headache initially. The Gold Lions didn't do that. Then I thought, I don't dare put the JJ Hi-Performance tubes back in; their bottom is a bit stronger than the Black Diamonds. But they're a warmer tube, and their midrange is nice and full, so that should mitigate any bright/hard CDs I play. As for the headache concern, I don't remember that being a problem, but it's been a while since I used the JJs. And the Transparent power cords have opened up the sound so that maybe the JJs would be a "perfect" tube for my setup.

I don't need to switch out tubes every time I hit a CD or DVD that shows up a particular problem with a tube on that recording. Isolated examples are not to be preferred over consistent experience, I begin to think. There's no such thing as a perfect tube, and I think I've drifted toward trying to put one in my C2300.

Despite the last sentence of that first paragraph, the Black Diamonds stay a while longer. Yes, I could put the JJs in if I want, but I've had the BDs in for only a week on this second go-round. Patience is called for.