Garrard 301 - Project

I like Telefunkens, but, I never considered them to be tonally rich sounding tubes.  The ones I heard were very lively and dynamic sounding, but, considerably leaner than the likes of Mullard and Amperex.  The Telefunkens that I ended up using in my phono stage are ECC803S tubes that are very expensive.  They came in their original box,  This was quite a while ago when there were some concerns about fakes, but, the Chinese had not yet perfected the fake diamond molded into the bottom of the tube.  The box looked suspiciously clean and new, but the ends crumbled when I opened them, which indicated that t boxes were very old.  

For warmer sound, I like Amerex Bugle Boy 12AX7s.  

Haven't rolled tubes yet. Haven't felt the need yet. But never say never.

Link to my aforementioned Black Treasures.

TFK ECC83s are so "legendary" for their "tonal richness" 

No they are not.

Exact opposite - in the Marantz 7 circuit they are fast, reasonably transparent and very flat. I have a draw full of premium flat plate Telefunkins. They have never sounded rich.

If you want rich - Mullards tend to be much more fullsome the expense of speed and neutrality.

The problem with any discussion on tubes is that the best tube can be circuit related - you can't make blanket statements.

I like Telefunkens, but, I never considered them to be tonally rich sounding tubes.  The ones I heard were very lively and dynamic sounding, but, considerably leaner than the likes of Mullard and Amperex.  

Absolutely correct - I have drawer fulls of flat plate telefunkens - they are as described. I also have a stash of Mullard CV4004 and M8137's both are richer and fuller sounding than the Tele's.

In my Marantz 7 I preferred the Telfunkens.

In my Jadis preamp I preferred the Mullards in some positions ( but not all ).

@dover Funny, I had a drawer full of the box plate Mullards you mention. Nice if one likes creamy, warm, and slow, with no air. I'll concede that Teles can be a little lacking in warmth. However, I maintain that you can adjust tonality elsewhere in the system without slowing it all down in the phono amplifier.