Audio Research reference line of products and tube rolling

There was a time, cmalak, when all I did was roll tubes--Telefunkens, Mullards, British Amperexes, Dutch Amperexes, GEs, Sylvanias, RCAs, Genelexes, Tung-Sols, WEs, you name it I tried it. There is no question that the "right" tubes (or combination of tubes) can not only make sonic differences, they can also make sonic improvements. BUT the way I feel about the whole enterprise now is that life is too short. I'd rather make the assumption that the manufacturer has done the best job he can of selecting tubes that compliment his circuit (and that are reliable), and listen to music rather than listen to a never-ending (and, believe me, once you start down this path there is no end in sight) series of NOS second-guesses. Others on our staff feel differently. But the way I look at it nowadays is that if a particular complement of readily available tubes proves to be a better choice than the manufacturer made, then, by God, the manufacturer should've made that choice in the first place (or given the consumer the option of that choice, even if it meant more money) instead of leaving the spadework up to the end-user.

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