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"Tube rolling"


carfish7

Question

A new expression that I keep running across everywhere now. Originated at The Gear Page maybe? Premier Guitar ran an article?

"Tube Swapping" likely not hip sounding enough for some? To me, rolling conjures up something I wouldn't necessarily want to do with class cylindrical objects. Am I become a grumpy, cynical old man for even pointing this out?

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It must be something trendy, 'cause I haven't heard anything about it. :lol: Doesn't make any sense to me at first glance. But hey, if it ain't broke, either fix it or make it more complicated. <_< :angry:

Edited to add: Reminds me of the phrase "top of mind". I hadn't heard that being used until this last year, and it sounds like bad grammar to me, as it doesn't say WHOSE mind. What ever happened to "the front of my mind", or "the front of your mind" as an expression? Not trendy enough? Or people don't want to own up to what they're talking about?

Dammit, now I'M a grumpy, cynical old man! Now get off my lawn! ;):lol:

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Tube rolling has been a term in high end audio for at least 20 years. Looks like it's finally making its way into guitar amps, something I'm sure you're all thrilled about.

Here is a reference from 12 years ago. Tube rolling implies more than a one-for-one swap. You start with a drawer full of NOS tubes and try various combinations until you get the best combination of truth of timbre, low noise, low level detail, speed, dynamics, and natural-sounding smoothness. In audio it could be tubes in your phono stage, line stage and power amp, and maybe even in the output stage of a hybrid CD player.

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"Tube Swapping" likely not hip sounding enough for some? To me, rolling conjures up something I wouldn't necessarily want to do with class cylindrical objects. Am I become a grumpy, cynical old man for even pointing this out?

Maybe, but you're not alone. ;)

There was a bashing thread at TGP recently about phrases that folks wish would just go away... I'm sure this one's in there somewhere.

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