CAJames- Good to hear you found your liking and nice to see a post on this thread after a break.  I am glad I went with the small tube Str-104.  Those big boys come with a big price.  I have settled in with my favorite tubes in the Str-104 being a RCA 866a in the rear socket and a 3B22  (2A3 2nd) in the front socket along with a graphene sluggo.  It is just stunning with my Torii jr.  Listening to Dire Straits “On Every Street” is mesmerizing.  How fun!

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I've been playing around with a lot of different tubes lately (in my amp and preamp, not the STR) and for me the choke has become another knob to fine tune the sound. With it off there there is just a little more transparency and dynamics, with it on a little more smoothness and liquidity. I have it on probably 80/20.