jonjin wrote:
Good thread... I had a similar thought in my head. Still somehow knowing that the valves are wildly out of matching makes me psychologically more worried.
JJ
Obviously, it does make sense to have matched tubes if possibleand if there is no cost or a minimal premium then why not. I just question the absolute need in many instances. Also, how long do valves stay matched? I suspect that few if any wear at the same rate, but of course if they start out at the same 'standard' then maybe that should help.
A while back I ordered of 8 new production ECC83, 3 from one UK supplier and paid a premium for a pair to be matched (but all were tested prior to dispatch)and got 5 others of the same make, but random selected white boxed and unprinted, shipped over from the US at half the cost (inc shipping) of the the 3 UK ones. Absolutely no audible performance difference between any of these tubes that I could hear.
Also bought a batch of 6, 13D5's from a very reputable UK dealer a few years back, all tested prior to dispatch - now I test all my valves prior to use and failed 4 of the 6. Had a discussion with the suppliers tech'y about my testing, they never answered how they test, anyway 6 more were sent out and this time only 1 was bad, so I got my 6 in the end, trouble was this was a preliminary trial to see if was going to order a batch of 30 for myself and 4 other members of the "13D5 appreciation society" - didn't bother in the end as I felt it was too much effort.
As you may gather I'm rather sceptical about sellers matching and testing claims and take it all with a pinch of salt.