6922 tube selection

Thanks for your replies and opinions. Great thread! Hi Chuck, its been awhile since we last chatted on the 'Gon'. I have sent you a pm.

Well, first off, thanks for responding. I have a C-J Premier 17LS pre amp and C-J LP66S amp. Not that it matters, I also have a C-J EF-1 phono stage. (I like C-J equipment). I have e-mailed and called C-J in regards to tube prices and replacements. No reply. So..... looks like I'm on my own. Also, on the C-J site, they state the signal tubes only last a few years and the power tubes (6550) last longer, "change out every other set". I had been under the opposite opinion, but then again could have been given bad information.

I sincerely appreciate the input and responses received to date. That is what has made this such a wonderful site that I always enjoy working with. I have not really wanted to go the NOS route. I am concerned about purchasing some one elses used tubes. Testing machines just don't exist in every drugstore like they used to!

The choice was either the Electro Harmonix gold pin or Genalex Gold Lion gold pin. Comments well taken with 'don't go cheap on me now' recommendations.

Below is a quote regarding tube life from the C-J website (FYI):
"1500 hours for signal tubes (small ones-6922) and 3000 hours for power tubes (big ones, like the KT88 or 6550).

Very good comments and feed back. Thank you. NOS is just that; NOS. No one 'really' knows where they have been or how and if they have been used. No one knows how many times they were bought and sold through middlemen and liquidators. I agree that any new tube can sit on a shelf for 100 years with no issue, but apply the voltage and the clock is ticking. NOS has been out of production for so long (~50 years) one would hope that those still making tubes have developed some manufacturing advancements to insure better quality control. Once again... Thanks!