***Is It Me Or Have Todays Modern Tubes Gotten REALLY REALLY Good***


About 3 years ago it was the Quad VA-One EL-84 amp that won my ears & heart.Almost 3 years I ran that amp night and day and never felt the urge to roll any of the tubes,which I believe were E.H...A user interface problem forced it’s sale and now it is the magical Cayin CS-55a with factory KT88’s,AU7 & AX7 small signal tubes..Once again I find absolutely no reason to start rolling tubes.Maybe,maaayyybbbeee I could squeeze a drop more liquidity outta the upper mids and possibly a hint more shimmer on top but at what expense?I hate gambling.Anyone else noting the quality of today’s new issue tubes?
freediver
Nice amp , and yes modern tubes are good . However , I dare you to roll in 4 NOS  Telefunken signal tubes and say it isn’t an improvement. But everyone knows it’s subjective . I must be stupid as I have more invested in tubes , than my amp . But it’s been fun . Hi “ My name is Mike, Im a Tube Addict “ . With all the NOS stuff I have , I absolutely love the Tungsol KT 120’s . And I hope I never run out of Svetlana Winged “ C “ KT 88’s . I’ll keep coming back 😎
For 6SN7 tubes for my preamp and amp, I am really quite happy with the Shuguang Treasure CV181-Z and CV181-T tubes. They might not be quite as good as the very best NOS war time tubes, but they are more consistent, less expensive, and easier to get.

For KT88 power tubes, I like the Shuguang Treasure KT88-Z and KT88-T tubes better than any of the Russian tubes out there. I don’t even consider NOS for these tubes as I am not going to spend the money for the old Genalex tubes.

For, 6922 tubes, I could not find a new production tube that sounded good. So I invested in late 50’s and early 60’s Siemens and Telefunken NOS tubes. In the end, I used an adapter with Western Electric 396A/2C51 tubes. These were the best tubes I ever heard in 6922 applications. Russian Reflektor 6NP3-E tubes with the same adapter are really good too. Better than the much more expensive 6922 tubes.
I really like the Genelex Gold Lion
reissues for power tubes. Also, the Mullard
 reissue for small signal tubes.
Never personally used tubes for hifi stuff. But I have played guitar for 30 years and I must say tubes make a huge difference in my various amps of different manufacture. Both power and preamp. Just my experience. Old black plate RCA 12ax7s, 6v6s and 6l6s sound much better than the new variants. I understand it's different for hifi and guitar. I'm just getting into this game and I must say it's quite something. Deciding right now between tube or SS. Anyhow.... I really enjoy the discussions and knowledge shared here. Thank you!
Dear ebm,you are absolutely right: nos-tubes from the late ‘50s and the early ‘60s are the best. The voices ,instruments ( piano, guitar ) sounds much more natural than the new ones.