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State of the art, or jewelry? New tubes.

So since getting my humble 2A3 amplifier going on the weekend (see my other post), I have been bitten by the SET bug. One item which seems to pop up as a low hanging fruit, in terms of improvements, are the 2A3 tubes themselves. Unlike other modifications which require some actual effort on my behalf, new tubes are a no brainer... plug and play, all I need to do is make sure the bias looks good. Plus, If I am using this amplifier regularly it would be foolish to not have a spare set on hand... it boarders on a small tragedy when a tube goes south and the replacement is days or weeks away!

I have a pair of Valve Art bi-plate style Chinese 2A3's. These are the cheap ones which were sold through the 90s, for around $15 a tube, and apparently exist no longer as new production (at least I can't find any)

Now, keep in mind that I haven't looked into buying triodes for almost ten years... the landscape has changed a lot. Gone are the affordable used RCA tubes, and the bargain basement Chinese ones.

In their place is an almost bewildering selection of moderately to extremely expensive options which are sold with all the fanfare of Swiss automatic watches or high dollar olive oil, or cigars, rather than mere electronic parts. Shopping for tubes I feel sorry for anyone restoring a 1930s radio, however unlike ten years ago I can certainly spring for a luxury product now and again!

Okay down to the actual point... which new production 2A3 would you buy with your money, for your amplifier? How about with my money, for my amplifier? The Treasure series looks great, but something inside me says don't waste a lot of money on anything from China! (I once bought a set of Chinese 807s and they died dramatically one by one in my RCA mono theatre amps)




Edits: 11/24/14
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Topic - State of the art, or jewelry? New tubes. - maxhifi 12:51:41 11/24/14 (103)
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