Okay, this may be one of those quintessential silly questions but here it goes.

I know that tubes can affect the sound. If this is the case, won't a preamp with a certain tube designed to create a specific tone get altered by the tubes on the amp side designed to create another certain tone.
Does this make sense?  Won't a set of tubes in one component affect another set of tubes in another component?

Do I make sense?  Probably not, right?

Well said John.

Interesting that in a thread about rolling tubes in his Torii Jr. Ron talks of "staying sane in the process." I find myself sometimes going a bit nuts in the tube-rolling process. But experimentation leads to some great sounds. Every tube has its story to tell, it's seasoning to impart. It can be fun!

When I think of any component or cable, if it is good, the designer is designing it to be complete as it is. Whether solid state or tube, each part effects the sound, and good designers consider this in decisions. One resistor pair, or internal cable or wire, can change the sound of transparent and revealing gear, sometimes quite a lot. And even simple amps like Decware have a fair number of parts and wires......

Even considering only those in the Decware family, all designed to get the most Steve can get within his parameters and tastes, they are all different. And those differences can be great for adding complexity, complimenting one another with good synergy....leading us back to tube sets we like in our particular setting. Regardless of the component designer choices, our choices in variations on the same, or similar tube types, can help us refine what we want/need in our own systems and rooms. My system foundations are mainly the same components I have had for a long time, and it is difficult for me to separate the CSP3 and Torii in any sound change experiment with a tube choice, or cable, or foot, or whatever. They are pretty different components, but together they make my sound. Pretty cool to me.