[prepress]

And just when I thought I was done . . .

Last night, I went on to pull out one of my reference DVDs which I hadn't listened to in a while, the Moody Blues live at the Royal Albert Hall. Yes, the sound was fuller and all that, but I missed some subtle details I've heard before, such as John Lodge's humming into his mic during English Sunset. And other things like the triangles weren't as distinct as I remember in spots (though I could hear them). It must be mentioned that I don't recall if I ever played this DVD with the Black Diamond tubes before, so I can't say definitively that this is an issue due to the tap move. I also pulled out my Marcus Miller DVD for a couple of tracks and on one, Panther, the sound seemed a bit less focused at one point. I have played that one with the BDs, so that one appears to be due to the tap change. Maybe the new config fills in the sound at the expense of some clarity, depending upon the recording?

If I run across more of this kind of thing, it could lead to revisiting tubes. I still have other options, even though I'd pretty much settled on the BDs. The new 501 tap configuration is staying put, since I think it makes the most sense. I may well revisit the tracks mentioned here to see if they sound the same later on, as the new 12TC pair may need more time to settle in for all I know; I haven't been keeping track, but I'd say it has around 4 hours on it now.