Would you buy a tube amp if you were unable to use vintage tubes in it ?

15 years without replacing a single tube. That's incredible.

Vintage used could be $100 each, but if you wanted to match dozen EL34 tubes..that would be a problem. And, yes, you couldn't be sure in advance of significant improvement. Well, vintage tubes were not created equal.

Actually I would  need two matched sex-tets, but still. . . .

Yeah, Brent from Audio Tubes might be able to deliver it for you if you place a custom order, but the cost..probably at least $150 each for used test NOS, more likely $200 each.

Fifteen years for the amp and linestage and the tubes that were put in those two components were old to begin with--they tested good, but prior usage was unknown.  Both components run the tubes very gently.

I also run tubes in a headphone amp and a phono stage.  I would have also recorded no tube failures in these two components as well, except a shelf collapsed onto the power supply of the phono stage and wrecked both rectifiers.  This is a very odd phono stage-Viva Fono- that utilizes two 300B tubes as rectifiers.  So, this was not a cheap replacement caused by that shelf failure.

faustuss

 Further I think all the suggestions regarding tube "rolling" is a little insane . . . What a crock!

I nearly spit out my coffee when I read that comment.  LOL. Another flat-earther's credibility shot to hell.

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The best location for my JJ 12AU7's in the storage closet.