Greetings fporrata,
Is there a particular tutorial you’re trying to watch?
For older tutorials (before R15), the default does not appear to be changeable. Most of these older tutorials were not recorded in HD quality.
For newer tutorials that are run through vimeo, it becomes very easy to adjust. On the video itself, if you hover over it, you’ll see a player bar at the bottom appear. If you click the ‘HD’ button, the video should default to HD quality. I have found once you press that button on one tutorial, all tutorials should now play in HD.