I have a tube preamp (6922’s) with a tube DAC (12AU7’s) along with a Class A solid state amp. I’ve probably swapped about 20 different brands of NOS tubes. Depending on the tube (and cabling), his voice on this cut can be hot or recessed or just right. But, more than naturally reproducing a male or female vocalist, how is the PRaT?
Does a snare drum sound crisp? It's a challenge to balance everything out.
I used to enjoy NOS Mullards 12AU7’s. Then, I went on a binge to seriously clean up the power to my rig. After doing so, the Mullards sounded overly warm with low resolution. It turns out they were masking a problem that I had with dirty power.
I totally agree with lowrider57.
That’s a generalization that large tubes sound better than small; it depends on the implementation of the component.It would be ideal if you could audition a preamp in your system before purchase. Are there any audio clubs in your vicinity?