Damn, this thread is a veritable tome!! I just joined the Circle here, and was checking out some of the thread's here. I've gotta say, Dan's Transporter transformed my front end (do I need to write a disclaimer on this Circle?). I was using a completely maxed out Modwright 999es and I have to say he's bested himself. I've been really happy with the Transporter, and have told Dan numerous times that it's the best digital front end I've had in my system. I thought I'd contribute my very minimal tube rolling experiments. The output stock tubes were easily bettered by a pair of RCA cleartops. I have not tried anything else yet. I tried rolling the stock RCA GZ37 for a couple of NOS Mullard GZ34's and really didn't like that direction - it tended to soften everything out to my ears. I really didn't give either of them much of a chance as my knee-jerk reaction was to run, not walk, back to the GZ37, which felt more detailed and impactfull, for lack of better verbiage. I haven't gone through all 31 pages of this thread, but given the response, any suggestions? Power cord's a TG688 - haven't tried anything else. Not into dropping large coin on PC's, though it certainly can make a difference.
Thanks for the warm welcome on the CES thread!
Best,
Marco