Looking at a Mcintosh 275vi with upgraded gold lion tubes

Mac uses JJ tesla's in their tube gear so the gold lions will be a big upgrade IMO.

the JJ's are rather bright, toneless, and rather unmusical. they are like modern SS amps IMO.

I've changed all the stock tubes in mine with NOS tubes. but the Gold lions are great modern tubes i have used them in various other tube amps and preamps over the years.

All I'm going to say is the stock JJ's are not the best sounding tubes on the market but descent i suppose for modern tube that are not too expensive, they are reliable though. 

Thanks for the feedback. So far one pro and one loves gold lions but didn't love them in the 275v. I would be using a stock MC70 tube preamp. With all the tube swapping out there I thought there would be more of a response  to this thread.

Get some KR KT88s. Huge upgrade. Verdant Audio.  $$$ No affiliation.

I have Northern Electric, Gold lions, NOS Tungsol 6550 $$$$. I believe the original 275s which I owned in the 70s were voiced with the Tungsols. 

Thanks but I'm looking at a seller of two 275vi with upgraded gold lions I'm interested in one of them . Really looking for advice on whether to take a chance on someones upgrades and save 2k or just buy new and know what I'm buying

It's just a personal preference of how they sound. Both tubes are reliable and neither brand will sound bad,just slightly different from one another.After you've lived with the amp for a while I imagine you'll be trying other brands out of curiosity.