Why do old tubes sound better than current tubes?

I picked up a few of the new Genalex 12AX7GENGP tubes from NS and did an audition over a weekend between them and the 04/60's Telefunken I was using in my C500T.

Guess what -- even though still early, and the Genalex have only 5 hours on them or so since the swap out -- I like what I'm hearing & so, they remain in the MC slots.

Impressive so far folks.

Bob

Search the archives, this question seems to come up once a month or so.

There is much more to say about tubes than would fit into a thread. As was mentioned before, some tubes of days long gone by do have a unique mixture of materials in a pureness you won't find anymore today.
But in Audio it all comes down to the individual judgement of the respective listener/owner about what set of tubes he/she like BEST in a specific piece of equipment under certain circumstances ( circuit, matching with other components etc.).
There is no rule - there is no universal guideline. I for one do look for very specific mechanical criteria in tubes (and tube-types..) I use in amplifiers, because I know about certain direct links between sonic performance in a given circuit and specific mechanical/architectural circumstances in a tube. And this too is depending whether I use them as plate-follower, in SRPP mode, input-, driver- and/or phonostage-tube.
In the very end it always come down to what YOU do like best.
That is all that counts.
There is no BEST tube (type or version) out there.
There is a selection of great tubes for each specific purpose.
NOS or NNS - you will find good and great tubes in both camps (but you are likely to find a wider selection in the NOS-camp .... ;-) ..... ).
Try and enjoy.

One of the Chinese tubes, the Suguang 12AX7 is as good as NOS or better than other new for sure. I swapped some out and quickly swapped them back in.

because the people who sell nos tubes cant make money on new tubes. I have rogue m180s and have tried mullards, telefunkens, mazdas, GEs , rca cleartops, 5751 triple micas, and about five or ten I cant remember, sorry folks but the cheap as dirt sovtek 12ax7 lps is a winner, and so is the new tung sol gold pins, those are what I go back to again and again. the old tubes can sound nice and pleasant, but just dont have the resolution of the new ones, at least in my system. but now I cant brag and say I have three hundred dollar telefunkens in my amps either. I guess I will just have to listen to music instead.