BTW the most I've ever paid for a good quality
NOS preamp tube is about $45 and they seem
to be going for twice that these days, so I'm
glad to have stocked up a decade ago!
my rule is: if they're cheap enough, I'll give 'em
a shot and if they're no good it's not like I'm out
a bunch of money.. eBay is a total crap shoot,
but I've got plenty of tube deals through trades
and from private sellers.
I'm not married to NOS tubes - but I sure
like 'em
and one can't really argue they don't have potential
to last for YEARS of good service as opposed to the
modern productions, which may sound good for a year
or two before going microphonic, or just plain dead.
of COURSE there are exceptions - I wouldn't rule out
a JJ, Ruby, or whatever
just because they're new tubes.
same goes for NOS: some may not be good at all, for
a variety of reasons. when one deals with a supplier
who screens their goods to weed out the bad apples
then it's only fair to pay 'em a premium price for their
efforts.