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Who ever said rating tubes was objective or scientific?

Posted by Mendel (A) on February 23, 2016 at 10:06:26

In Reply to: RE: You do understand my point, correct? posted by ivan_terrible on February 23, 2016 at 09:09:29:

Deciding which tubes sound good and which sound bad is a purely subjective pursuit, like most things in audio. You can go up the blind A or B testing road to get some "scientific" angle, but really what's the point?
You hear a tube in your amp and decide if you like it or not. Then something else comes along and you decide if it is better than the first tube. You do this long enough and you create a rating scale. Many other people do the same thing in their amps. They come up with their own ratings. On a forum, somebody asks for a opinion on a certain tube. The people who have experimented with that tube chime in with their opinions. Sometimes a consensus forms, with many different people using that tube in their equipment responding the same way about the way the tube sounds. This is not bullshit, but it is not exactly scientific either. Does that make the general opinion on that tube wrong?
Not sure of your points regarding mass production other than to say that 2 (6sn7s) tubes from the same company may sound different. I agree but find the better the tube the less variation in production. That's why I generally prefer NOS tubes. With them the variability is generally tied to prior use and or abuse.
Regarding hearing loss at high frequencies, since 90% of most music (just a guesstimate I admit) is between 100hZ and 4000hZ why does this mean us old men (I am 53) can't judge the sound of a tube? Should all us old men sell our stereos and switch to Bose radios?

Edits: 02/23/16 02/23/16

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