Tkfaudio, you got it right, guy! A tube with 1000's of hours on it can measure "NOS". That's the rub. Ask Bob at Eurotubes, one of the nicest and most honest guys in the business. He opened my eyes to this fact. His years in the tube arena taught him that a good tube will measure like a NOS tube until it is near the end of its life, at which time it will degrade rather quickly. And you have all these tube sharks picking up tubes at flea markets, garage sales, and hamfests for pennies. Then they do a half-ass job of testing these tubes to sell them for big bucks. You'll see it here on Audiogon all the time. Why do you think almost none of these guys give any warranty, other than that they function upon arrival? Caveat emptor.
Vintage tubes skyrocketing in price
Anyone else think that the skyrocketing prices of NOS tubes is unreasonable? They seem to be continually increasing in price weekly. It makes tube rolling exclusive to the wealthy. I am not happy. Comments?