Posted by Joe S on December 04, 2002 at 10:43:14:
In Reply to: Wolcott? Is he is smart enough to TEST the worlds best amp? posted by Terry Koehn on December 01, 2002 at 10:01:26:
Yes, Wolcott does calibrate and test his amps. But the reason he doesnt use NOS tubes for all positions in his amps (he does for the 6922s and has in the past for the 6GW8s) is the limited availability of many of the best NOS brands for these types - and EL34s in particular. Albert is NOT talking about changing tube types - he's substituting with different brands of the same rating, as have I. And yes I do test these tubes a bit and not just on a simple tube tester. I run curve traces and match tubes carefully. The interesting thing is matched or unmatched tubes have little effect on the sonic personality and charcteristics of individual brands. If you actually believe current production tubes match the sonic performance of the best NOS tubes you are sadly mistaken. And if you believe measurements tell you everything why are you buying tube products at all? Just shut your ears, buy solid state and be done with it.
joe