tube rolling for me takes on a different meaning....
since i design tube amps from the ground up.....
i never form any fixed beliefs, i measure with my instruments and listen,so that if i did not like what i heard, at least i know some reasons why and
make the necessary adjustments to get it to sound like i want it...
if you replaced a tube in your amp and liked it, you will then
conclude that this tube is better than the other tube,
and that is all you will ever know....you will never know
what what was happening inside the circuit to make it so....
this hobby is all about enjoyment, and our brains decide how..so that if you convince yourself that
china tubes are junk,chances are you will never enjoy any amp using Chinese tubes..
i have known some who gets orgasmic at the sight of sexy bottle tubes,
so that they go bananas at the sight of those tubes...
some even go to extra efforts to incorporate wood in their amps
all because that is their idea of what a tube amp should look like...
many of the things that a lot of folks like have nothing to do with the sound,
but they do it anyway, why? because that is the way they have convinced their
minds, that is how they will enjoy....who am i to say they are wrong?
in my tube journey i have no fixed beliefs, i take things as they come...
i like to try different things differently.....
and there are only two kinds of tubes for me, a working tube and a dead/defective tube...