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primer on buying vintage tubes?

Dear all-

I recently started to tiptoe into tube rolling--replacing the 6922 stock tubes in my headphone amp etc.

I am curious as to why vintage tubes are often preferred to the new ones? Why would older tubes sound better?

And even more pressing, I'm curious about best practices for buying vintage tubes. I recently came across a pair on ebay that were not labeled NOS but the seller did say the had been measured on a tube tester and had 100% emission. If this a safe bet? Is it better to buy NOS? Is it better yet to deal with a vendor like Upscale Audio?

Thanks for any insights! Margot
mcanaday
orpheus10
8,668 posts
 

I like Brent Jesse. Mullards last a long time, my 6922's are good after many years, and the good thing about NOS tubes is they don't sag, meaning lose their sparkle, while current production tubes lose their sparkle in a hurry.

There's no doubt about it, after taking longevity, plus high performance into account NOS tubes are economical; it's just that high up front cost that's a nail bighter, but after enjoying them for a few years without loss of performance, you'll know you did the right thing.

My advice is never buy a bargain NOS tube from Ebay, stick with the "Tube mongers".
mcanaday OP
169 posts
 
Thanks, guys. I had a very good transaction with Brent Jesse, and also a nice exchange with Jim McShane. I did reach out to Upscale Audio (twice) and never heard back.

What about the Tube Museum? Any experience with them, positive or negative?

Thanks! Margot
mcanaday OP
169 posts
 
Also if I am buying from some place like tube depot, which of the options do I want to check (and pay a few bucks more for):

balanced triodes, high gain, low noise, matching.

Well, I know I probably wanted matching and low noise. But the other two?

This is for my Schiit Lyr 2 headphone amp. Thanks!

Margot
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