I've been dealing with Manley Labs for years, mid 1990s and remember when Eva used to answer the phone. The equipment that I purchased back this is still as good as it gets. Thanks to the Manley team.
Is there any risk to swapping tubes frequently to get different tones? Or should they be switched infrequently due to wear on the internals from swapping?
Mr. Vacuum Tube's internals live in a vacuum and thus they don't even know they were swapped. Swap away, but pay attention not to break or mangle the socket pin connections and the socket's connections to the PCB.
Would KR audio tubes work they have some weird numbering system, and why don't you get them to manufacture valves for you? based in the Czech Republic supposed to be the best audiophile grade tubes you can get. You can actually get screws with fixed on star washers, and don't need to be separate may be a better solution a.
No offense and 2 years after the fact but....your iphone is Chinese and it's a frkn technical masterpiece. Good luck randomly throwing a different capsule in there just because you think 'chinese' somehow equals inferior. Rant over.
