Replasment for Mullard Long Plates?

Wolf,
We all have our own take on risk-aversion, but from my perspective you're overestimating the risk of vintage tubes. I've used tons of tubes from many different sources (including ebay) and most of the vintage tubes (advertised with good test readings) work & sound great, and will last for a LONG time...even many of the gnarly-looking equipment pulls. Sure, I've had a few vintage tubes die on me (the minority, by far). However, the ONLY catastrophic failure I've experienced was with a fully tested new-production EH KT90.

Don't want to risk spending a mint for a bad vintage tube? Then don't pay a mint for vintage tubes ;) There's still some excellent performers out there for reasonable prices. The diversity of sonic attributes available in the pool of vintage tubes is amazing; don't sell yourself short by limiting to ONLY new production -- some of which are admittedly quite good. While the great vintage power tubes are getting ridiculously expensive (and the good-quality new production is certainly appreciated), the vintage small signal tubes are still available. I've certainly heard some nice warmth from certain new production tubes (e.g. SED EL34, e.g. Russian KT120), but it's still not the same kind of magical warmth as that from a great Mullard or RCA -- those are...truly special.

If you still want to be cautious, the most careful tube seller I've ever encountered is Andy at V.T.S. If you *ever* get a mediocre tube from him, I'd be shocked.

Mulveling...you make a compelling case, and maybe I will get some Great Mullards just so I can say to strangers, "I now have Great Mullards"...totally worth it if only for that, although I assume most people would think I'm talking about a dog breed. I've had some old tubes around...usually stuck in a guitar amp and yeah, they do work a long time....really long...my 61 Fender Deluxe (got it in 1970) had original tubes for 50 years. I'll keep gathering opinions like the one I'm currently fishing around for about the 7025s the TubeStore dude was talking about, although they may have limited magical warmth (really...he described them sort of like that).

Cool, Wolf. :)
If/when you go for those "Great Mullards", try to hold out for some nice long-plates at a reasonable price...though the short plates & box plate CV4004 still yield gobs of warmth with at least a touch of the "magic". I also like the RCA long black plates quite a bit...just depends on your system. For me, it's difficult (but possible) to overdose on warmth.

I actually don't have any 7025s in my slightly substantial collection....perhaps someday...

Mike

I thought the only real old stock 7025s are RCAs, but I am not sure. Both me and another tube rolling friend have tried the 7025, and weren't impressed with the results. Therefore Wolf, if the 7025 is definitely your tube of choice I think you should go with something new. That said, my experience with old tubes has been a lot like Mike's. Remarkably the worst tube experience I had was with a KT-90 new production of course. It blew and took out a socket, resistor and then burned some section of the wiring.
New production 12AX7s are really quite good and it is really not necessary to buy old stock to get good sonics. I think as little as 5 years ago that wasn't the case. BTW I have only discussed tubes with people interested in the matter. I don't have a sign or T shirt advertizing what I have in my collection.

Mechans...are you saying there's something wrong with exploding tubes? You're supposed to only be concerned with the sound of the tubes and not conflagration issues, and always wear safety glasses. My post specifically asks for opinions about the NEW 7025s offered by thetubestore, since the dude there recommended 'em as "carefully made Chinese tubes that aren't euphonic" or something. I'm still waiting for those opinions, and am printing the question on a t-shirt as we speak. I am with you on the "only discuss tubes with people interested", and take it further to include "all things audio" as trust me, generally speaking, nobody cares. I have yet to experience ANYONE (except another audio geek) seeing my somewhat elaborate hifi system for the first time and asking, "please kind sir (filthy Dickens-esque central casting peasants make up most of my friends), show me what it can SOUND LIKE."