Better amp or better tubes?


With this lockdown I'm finding myself and I'm sure many others listening to music more often and with that my mind has gone into upgrade mode.
My amp is a rare Quickilver 300B that must be at least 25 years old using genalax gold lion  300b tubes.
Over a year ago I sent an email to Mike sanders asking him about suggesting upgrades to the unit and surprisingly he told me if the amp is working fine to just leave it alone. We ok then.
The genalax 300b are modest in price  costing about $300 a pair and have worked flawlessly. If I were to upgrade the tubes, what direction would you suggest? To be honest, I'm a bit apprehensive in spending a lot for tubes since they can fail at anytime. Am I being overly concerned?

So, do I upgrade the tubes or amp? Amp budget of under 4k.

Thanks


emil
@emil emil,
What do you NOT like about the current sound -or- is it just curiosity / upgrade-itis?  

Other factors that impacted my QS amps negatively or positively, assuming your speakers are good, there  are other things to review too:
-Your preamp (done), LTA very capable. Check that box for yourself.
-What coupling caps, "shhh", did Mike keep in your amps (key)?  
-Your interconnects, are they veiled over or transparent type? 
-Your input tubes, which ones are you using, brand/type/year (key)?
-Your speaker cables, brand, type, length,std or bi-wire? 
-Source: vinyl or digital, DAC, type?
-Room, placement, surfaces... 

..other places to fine tune your amps if your 300B tubes tested out ok.  Once you reveal other details, others may chime in, good luck  :) 



from my experience with kt90's kt88's/kt150's. there is only lsight gain in sonics over each, the 88's beat out the 90's, the 150's beat out the 88's, not by much, IOW I'd be quite happy with 88's vs the kt150's i bought at 75/each. x 12.
also i note, a  88 is a  88 is a 88. The sonic difs in power tubes is so ~~miniscle~ as my baton rouge tech guy uses that word,,, = all 88's are equal. 
 but now in 300b tubes there are some incredible looking, but expensive designs, = the mesh plates etc.
hummm, tough call. 
if i were you i'd sell the QS and go with a  new 300b amp, then later on upgrade the stock 300b tubes to mesh plates. Line Magnetic anda  few other chinese labs have interesting looking designs. for a  very reasonable price. My fav chinese lab is Cayin. Made by Spark. they offer a  stunning 300b design. 
hope that helps.
treat a tube like any audio component. you must know where you are tone wise and where do you want to go from there. more bass and warmth? more highs? maybe you need a bit more output so higher gain power tubes can do the trick. any brand and model will give you something else so you should start learning about the types in your amp ,what's available and how does it sound,and pick the best for your taste . asking other 300b or quicksilver amp owners can help. worn tubes lose highs,if that's what your missing a new set of the stock  tubes will work. in a handwired circuit your preamp/input tubes are your preamp,your power tubes are your power amp .i advise you to buy the best nos/nib power and preamp tubes that you can afford,from a known seller that accepts returns,it won't be cheap but you will get better sound and wouldn't have to worry about it for 20 years. the technical part is testing and swapping the weak ones the audiophile part is just like picking any component as an upgrade. good luck!
since someone suggested it let me make it clear: n e v e r buy nos tubes thinking to keep them as spares if they won’t sound good. if they don’t sound good you picked the wrong tubes,it takes 20 seconds to tell on a set you live with. send them back! get something else or your money. never buy without the option to return if you don’t like the sound. if you want to tube roll just to get an idea ,buy used tubes for cheap.
 there is no excuse spending this much for audio and not getting the best.
" The genalax 300b are modest in price" sorry mate but not true. your stock tubes are russian made and still costs 300$(maybe 50$ maximum to produce...) .since there are only few that make 300b these days,and nos 300b prices are so high that they can get away with it ,they are priced so high for what they are. so what? let the lemmings have them.
the best thing to do is to ask mike sanders what tubes will sound the best on his amp.
Curious as to what type of change you are looking for in your sound?

During all of my Covid-19 restlessness I have sold a Primaluna Prologue Premium integrated, Evo300 integrated, Rogue Audio Sphinx V1, Schiit Yggdrasil DAC.....all to acquire a First Watt F7 (used), LTA MicroZotl preamp, McIntosh MCT450 transport (used), and a Timbernation rack to house all of it.

So, I’m feeling your pain!