Difference between KT88 EAT and NOS in Jadis

Hopefully things have changed since last year. Here are comments at Audiogon on the subject of Gold Lion that I found via search:

http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?htech&1170361371

I recently aquired an octet of GL 88's from Jim McShane and they have been on since Thursday evening. Ever since then, I have had nothing but pure musical enjoyment. No isses, they were a matched set and were easy to bias on my Octave amps. The bass is deeper, well more powerful, the complete sound spcetrum is even, where the SED C 88's I had before had a tipped up mid range and lacked in bass, the GL's are even across the spectrum. The radience (new audiophile word, ha) is more immersive then before, great depth, width and detailed instrumentality. There is nothing I can bad at all at this time about these tubes. They have projected my system into the league of does it get any better then this? I mean, I am amazed at the thwack of bass strokes, the voices popping out of nowhere, this is what it is about. I had elements of those traits before, but now, it is on a grander scale.

From my perspective, the GL88's have been one of the best tweaks in my system in a long time. I have had EH, TAD, SED winged C's and now the GL's in my system, and the GL's by far are the most musical.
Ciao,
Audioquest4life

Not "long time" (1 year) experience, but I have used a pair of EAT KT88 Diamond Valves in my former Unison S2K. They came at almost a quarter of the amp's price, but they heaved it into an entirely other league compared to the Sovteks the amp originally sported. Much - and I mean much - more transparency throughout the frequency range and authority in bass. Stabler image, better detail, yet a nicer musical flow without excessive warmth or roll-off. Just right. I also had the distinct impression the amp played louder at the same volume setting. When I sold the amp, I actually kept the valves, given what the buyer was prepared to pay. Tough luck for him. It was this experience with the KT88's that made me think not even twice when I acquired my present Audion 300B. I had to have EATs even if this time it set me back 40% of the price I paid for the entire amp including a pair of new Harmonix Gold 300B's. Same observation: in every musical respect now a better amp. With my gear - and that is as always an explicit caveat - EAT have been shure winners.

I 3rd (or 4th) the Gold Lion Reissues from Jim McShane. I have been using them ever since they came out a few years ago and they are wonderful sounding tubes. I haven't tried the EAT, nor will I. I highly recommend Jim or other vendors that personally tests the tubes, as opposed to simply buying "factory matched" tubes.

Albert, I think there was a questionable "batch" of Reissues during the time of the thread you cite, but no ongoing issues that I am aware of. If you look around at AA there are many more positive threads on this tube than negative.

Another recent tube of interest is the Treasure Series from Shuguang. Early reviews seem positive.

http://grantfidelity.com/site/catalog/90/shuguang_treasure_series