Darn millercarbon , you can't say stuff I agree with. It is not fair:)
Nor is it easy. What I mean is, tubes vary so much from brand to brand and even tube to tube its very hard to say anything meaningful about them without someone else being able to say something completely different- and both of you be right!
I mean, I used to think tubes were really reliable as maybe only one of probably 30 or 40 had ever really failed on me. Then in short order I had two flare out quite dramatically- and one of them was brand new!
There really is hardly any difference between tubes, not only between brands but even between certain types. KT88 is better to me than 6550C but not by much. JJ is better than Svetlana but by even less. But I'm comparing relative to something like a $150 Quantum Fuse or $60 set of BDR Cones or even something like running a demagnetizing track through your system. Those range from 3 to 10 times more important than the difference between tubes, which to me makes buying a new set when you already have a set a waste of money. But another guy might think a barely noticeable improvement for $500 is the moon and the stars. So both can be right and it is darn hard to say without being set up either way to get skewered.
So good to know. Thanks.