Now I get what retubing is about...

[StevenSurprenant]

I was into tube rolling from the start with my Sonic Frontiers preamp. For sure different tubes sounded different. In my case some old Amperex PQ 6922's were the best sounding. But eventually I decided that no preamp was the best preamp; now I use passive device consisting of an Alps Blue potentiometer.

In my last and final shot at vinyl I also got a Denon DL-110 plus an old Technics SL-D2 direct drive TT. I thought the Denon was very good vs. some almost 20 y/o cartridges I had lying around. I gave up on vinyl in that last venture after listening to a maybe a dozen LPs. 12" disc wrangling just wasn't worth the hassle in my case.

I tried the Sonic Frontiers preamp and thought it was too dark in my system so I returned it. I was using Quad ESL's at that time.

I don't listen to music very often and so when I do I really enjoy the process of vinyl. It's always a special time for me. I tried using a server, but it took the joy out of it. Besides, I haven't had much luck with 16 bit digital. I really like the higher bit rates, but unless I copy my vinyl (at 24 bit) there isn't very much music at 24 bit available that I really enjoy. Different strokes for different folks...

Addendum:

After sleeping on it I realized that I made a mistake. It wasn't a Sonic Frontier that I tried, I believe it was Audible Illusions. At any rate and at the time, it was Stereophile class "A" rated.

I also had a Cal Labs tube DAC that I tried tube rolling with, but the results were minor compared to what changed with the Yaqin amp.

I should add that on the third day, the Yaqin, with the new tubes, seemed to open up and the darkness that I mentioned seems to be mostly gone. It also appears that the higher frequencies have more extension too.