JWM and I did some tube rolling with his MW Oppo 95 a few days ago and at the end of the night, we agreed, the clear winner was the 1940s Tungsol black glass. Unfortunately, with prices reaching $500 pair, they're a bit of a luxury for most people.
Our next favorite was another oldie, the Sylvania VT-231, which gave up a little of the magic, but was still a great sounding tube.
After that and in order of preference, we enjoyed some brown base Sylvania 5692's, (probably made by RCA), some vintage Raytheon GT's, Sylvania Chrome top GTB's and finally, early RCA GT's.
Frankly, I'd take almost any NOS over the current offerings, mostly Chinese, though I do hear good things about the "Black Treasure" stuff. I've heard them in a few systems at CES but never in any A/B comparisons with NOS.
Our next favorite was another oldie, the Sylvania VT-231, which gave up a little of the magic, but was still a great sounding tube.
After that and in order of preference, we enjoyed some brown base Sylvania 5692's, (probably made by RCA), some vintage Raytheon GT's, Sylvania Chrome top GTB's and finally, early RCA GT's.
Frankly, I'd take almost any NOS over the current offerings, mostly Chinese, though I do hear good things about the "Black Treasure" stuff. I've heard them in a few systems at CES but never in any A/B comparisons with NOS.