Vintage tubes skyrocketing in price

I thought I could add some insight,based upon a recent experience that a friend of mine just had.After the two of us had Great Northern Sound VERY SUCCESSFULLY rebuild,from the ground up,and,not cheap,our Audio research SP-15 preamps(which use 3 -6dj8 type tubes in te hybrid phono section)I went on a tube rolling binge and wound up using Mullard's Ediswan based types.I tried about 5 different type of manufacturers before arriving with these.They gave me the sound I was looking for,and since I was able to acquire 2 ultra low noise sets from Upscale Audio I was happy.My friend on the other handWho already had mirrored my experiences,and who already had an additional set of low noise(Upscale Audio again)Gold pinned Mullards,like Albert mentioned, continued to spend on nos like there was no tommorrow.He loves to spend money on this hobby,sometimes with little improvement,and I always learn from his experiences,so,off to the races he went.After investing literally 1000.00 on three sets of 3 each low noise(supposedly?)Tele cca's we found to our dismay and wasted listening sessions that the tubes sounded bright and unsatisfactory,based upon the HUGE improvement that had been made to the phonostage from the recent updates.He ultimately went back to the gold pinned Mullards and sold the Teles,for a loss.He got the 3 sets from 2 different dealers both with(suppossedly?)good reputations.I don't want to bum you out,but,beware of spending megabucks out there.I also heard,from reliable sources that there are some unsavory types out there that are actually able to mark the tube logos of Teles,Mullards etc.on the elcheapo reject tubes and sell them to unsuspecting customers.My advice: Buddy up to an audio pal like Albert Porter,buy him some pricey wine,take him to a REALLY good restaurant,and spend some big bucks on his favorite dish.Maybe even throw in a new reference lp that he has never heard.Then,when the timing is just right,put on your most vulnerable/sad face and plead with him to part with some of his private stash.That's your best scenario for success!

Tkfaudio, you got it right, guy! A tube with 1000's of hours on it can measure "NOS". That's the rub. Ask Bob at Eurotubes, one of the nicest and most honest guys in the business. He opened my eyes to this fact. His years in the tube arena taught him that a good tube will measure like a NOS tube until it is near the end of its life, at which time it will degrade rather quickly. And you have all these tube sharks picking up tubes at flea markets, garage sales, and hamfests for pennies. Then they do a half-ass job of testing these tubes to sell them for big bucks. You'll see it here on Audiogon all the time. Why do you think almost none of these guys give any warranty, other than that they function upon arrival? Caveat emptor.

check out the audioasylum peerless transformer forum-mystery peerless thread-see how "honest ed" buys extremely valuable tubes for next to nothing.

Many people are selling vintage tubes that test bad at top prices.Buyer Beware!!