I was a non believer but I experimented and yes they do make a difference. I had Marshall with stock Chinese tubes and they sucked. I replaced them with RFT's and the amp came to life. I also replaced the tube in my Terror Stamp and it made a big difference also being that the Stamp uses a starved plate.
Yes, and it's all the gain level of the tube. More louder = more better. Don't waste money on US/Euro made tubes unless you have a studio queen amp. They'll last forever in that environment. Otherwise, just buy tubes from a very reputable dealer like Tube Depot. *The more testing done on the tubes before they get to you, the better.* I have been down this rabbit hole, and all the "magical tone tube" talk is 100% BS. People, especially guitar players, will hear an improvement when they just spent money even if nothing changed. Thank you for your time and the video. I know this stuff takes a long time.
Well said, some of this I’m still learning but it’s been a great eye opening experience for me. And yes, very time consuming but worth it. Thanks for watching!
@@thatsoundsterrible if you are looking for telefunken, there were two designs, earlier ribbed plate, and later smooth plate. I wouldn't bother with any perceived sonic difference between the two. To save potential NOS unobtainium audiophile tax, look for ones branded "the fisher" or "dynaco" because people are still unaware they are actually rebranded telefunken and can sell for a little discount. Especially look out for ANOS (hehe, "almost new old stock") tubes that show signs of use but still test strong/above factory...which is mostly what you would be seeing for sale anyway since it is such a famous name in the hifi community and has been out of production longer than your parents. That said, I have one. Its okay. There are others that blow up my skirt more in V1 of my amps (engl e670se el34 & framus cobra) Pre or power tubes only really account for maybe 3% of the tone and 5% of the feel We all know that a pre eq/boost would do far more I'm mainly holding on to mine for sale at a later date...did the whole tube rolling thing, it was cool. I can usually get pretty good results mixing new production to each "brand"-s strengths, circuit depending. I would also look at JJ mid gain and the "new, improved" (i.e. more consistently constructed) e83cc, compared to the ecc83s offering.
