Wolf,
We all have our own take on risk-aversion, but from my perspective you're overestimating the risk of vintage tubes. I've used tons of tubes from many different sources (including ebay) and most of the vintage tubes (advertised with good test readings) work & sound great, and will last for a LONG time...even many of the gnarly-looking equipment pulls. Sure, I've had a few vintage tubes die on me (the minority, by far). However, the ONLY catastrophic failure I've experienced was with a fully tested new-production EH KT90.
Don't want to risk spending a mint for a bad vintage tube? Then don't pay a mint for vintage tubes ;) There's still some excellent performers out there for reasonable prices. The diversity of sonic attributes available in the pool of vintage tubes is amazing; don't sell yourself short by limiting to ONLY new production -- some of which are admittedly quite good. While the great vintage power tubes are getting ridiculously expensive (and the good-quality new production is certainly appreciated), the vintage small signal tubes are still available. I've certainly heard some nice warmth from certain new production tubes (e.g. SED EL34, e.g. Russian KT120), but it's still not the same kind of magical warmth as that from a great Mullard or RCA -- those are...truly special.
If you still want to be cautious, the most careful tube seller I've ever encountered is Andy at V.T.S. If you *ever* get a mediocre tube from him, I'd be shocked.
We all have our own take on risk-aversion, but from my perspective you're overestimating the risk of vintage tubes. I've used tons of tubes from many different sources (including ebay) and most of the vintage tubes (advertised with good test readings) work & sound great, and will last for a LONG time...even many of the gnarly-looking equipment pulls. Sure, I've had a few vintage tubes die on me (the minority, by far). However, the ONLY catastrophic failure I've experienced was with a fully tested new-production EH KT90.
Don't want to risk spending a mint for a bad vintage tube? Then don't pay a mint for vintage tubes ;) There's still some excellent performers out there for reasonable prices. The diversity of sonic attributes available in the pool of vintage tubes is amazing; don't sell yourself short by limiting to ONLY new production -- some of which are admittedly quite good. While the great vintage power tubes are getting ridiculously expensive (and the good-quality new production is certainly appreciated), the vintage small signal tubes are still available. I've certainly heard some nice warmth from certain new production tubes (e.g. SED EL34, e.g. Russian KT120), but it's still not the same kind of magical warmth as that from a great Mullard or RCA -- those are...truly special.
If you still want to be cautious, the most careful tube seller I've ever encountered is Andy at V.T.S. If you *ever* get a mediocre tube from him, I'd be shocked.