The people telling you that vintage tubes are a ripoff and that new production tubes are always better are as wrong as the people saying that vintage tubes are always better.
It all depends on your tastes and your system. There's no one size fits all. Vintage tubes can provide a little tube magic in the right system.
You are probably better off starting with new production tubes until you gain a little knowledge about tubes and where to get them. When you become more familiar with tubes and what you want from them you can venture into vintage tubes. They can make an important difference in your system.
Maybe zkidd can loan you some of his 800 NOS tubes that he doesn't like or use so that you can learn about them without getting ripped off.
It all depends on your tastes and your system. There's no one size fits all. Vintage tubes can provide a little tube magic in the right system.
You are probably better off starting with new production tubes until you gain a little knowledge about tubes and where to get them. When you become more familiar with tubes and what you want from them you can venture into vintage tubes. They can make an important difference in your system.
Maybe zkidd can loan you some of his 800 NOS tubes that he doesn't like or use so that you can learn about them without getting ripped off.