I thought the only real old stock 7025s are RCAs, but I am not sure. Both me and another tube rolling friend have tried the 7025, and weren't impressed with the results. Therefore Wolf, if the 7025 is definitely your tube of choice I think you should go with something new. That said, my experience with old tubes has been a lot like Mike's. Remarkably the worst tube experience I had was with a KT-90 new production of course. It blew and took out a socket, resistor and then burned some section of the wiring.
New production 12AX7s are really quite good and it is really not necessary to buy old stock to get good sonics. I think as little as 5 years ago that wasn't the case. BTW I have only discussed tubes with people interested in the matter. I don't have a sign or T shirt advertizing what I have in my collection.
New production 12AX7s are really quite good and it is really not necessary to buy old stock to get good sonics. I think as little as 5 years ago that wasn't the case. BTW I have only discussed tubes with people interested in the matter. I don't have a sign or T shirt advertizing what I have in my collection.