tube suggestions/ brand new to tubes

@allenf1963,@hanki      Good afternoon. Thanks so much for your post and education in the field. I listen to ONLY,  Rock and Roll. 60's, 70's, 80's primarily. Best advice I've gotten from all, experience to tubes already in place before deciding on a direction. 

Makes good sense. Yes, to the question about living in TN. Cookeville area, equidistant between Knoxville an Nashville on I40. Great area by the way. Vintage tube services (Andy) comes up quite a bit, in many posts. So far I'm very pleased with the current tube set up. Buffer tube 5U4GB, output 12AU7, input 5751 tung -sol . I do prefer more analytical, detailed, sound stage, and dynamics. (rock and Roll) and that may come with time? But, in the long run my desire is as described before.  I may give Andy a call next week and see what he has to suggest. Would like to at least have a spare or 2, just in case. I need to listen to the Terry London piece, on the Jackpot also. Hey Guys, Thanks for the education. Robert   Ps, also spoke with Aric the other day, and he supplied a few sources also. Have a great weekend all!

NOS RECOMMENDATIONS

as far as recommendations, brand is not so important, as tubes were often rebranded, sometimes more than once, by whoever was selling them. 

tubs are identified by manufacture and type, so one may have to look past brand and accurately identify the make. 

here are some recommendations

5751  sylvania black plate triple mica, siemens, GE back plate 3 mica

12AU7 rca clear top, siemens nickel plate, mullard CV4003 box plate, philips heerlen long plate, sylvania 5814 triple mica

12AT7 rca 12at7WA/6201 black plate, valvo 6201, telefunken ECC801S
 

12AX7 valvo long plate, tesla E83CC, RCA long black plate, tung sol long black plate, siemens long place, mullard long plate, telefunken smooth plate

@robshaw  

You and I listen to very similar music.  I grew up in the 1960's and 1970's, and cut my music teeth on Prog Rock, Hard Rock, and Metal.  I still listen to that music, along with Prog Metal, Post Rock, and Experimental Rock.  A typical listening session may include Led Zep, King Crimson, Porcupine Tree, Talk Talk, Bowie, Radiohead, Dire Straits, and Godspeed You! Black Emperor.  The tubes that @cey listed above are right in the wheelhouse for this type of music.  I'm very fond of Mullard and Telefunken, and I'm willing to pay the price for Andy to find and test the best matches for me.  You only live once!

I'm very familiar with Cookeville and the entire Cumberland Plateau area.  While most family members and High School friends went to UT and ETSU, I know several people that graduated from Tennessee Tech.  I grew up in Kingsport and lived in Knoxville while going to college.  Visited the entire area from Nashville to Kingsport finding places to fish.  To me, East Tennessee is one of the most beautiful parts of America.  I love all it has to offer.  I'm glad you like it there.

A third vote for Andy Bouwman at Vintage Tube Services.  If you're looking for NOS Mullards, for example, that's what you'll get.  Mark O'Brien, owner of Rogue Audio, recommended Andy.

Little advice about the term NOS.  True NOS tubes are unused. However, some sellers label lightly used tubes as "NOS" if they still test strongly on industrial testing gear. My preference is the latter vintage NOS because older tubes seem to be of higher quality and these particular ones have either been broken end or have some level of break-end performed.