Posted by Albertporter on April 06, 2003 at 22:07:26:
In Reply to: Re: Re: Re: Re: M-2 and MA-1MKII.2's posted by Brian Walsh on April 06, 2003 at 21:17:37:
Just changing the input stage and driver tubes on Wolcotts can make a tremendous difference. I bought Mullard 6922 tubes, four for $35.00 each and four Telefunken 6 GW8's for $25.00 total.
This adds up to $165.00 and (in my system) made so much improvement that I never gave the expense a second thought. This I not a huge investment to improve amplifiers that retail for $10K.
On the other hand, if all sixteen of the EL34's were replaced with (my favorite) Mullard XF2's, the cost rises considerably. These frequently go for between $40.00 and $70.00 each at EBAY. I never suggest anyone spend this additional $900.00 (plus) unless they are already expecting to do so and only looking for confirmation of their choice.
Even if the latter path was chosen, there is no reason to sell the equipment with the premium tubes installed. The Wolcott is gentle on outputs, I have Mullards that were installed nearly two years ago and still test within 5% of what they were when I plugged them in.
Most of these would now sell on EBAY for more than I paid two years ago and I have enjoyed them all this time. As I said before, each person must decide what is important and how much to invest to get there.