My experience, both with Lamm and NOS tubes is that the latter are often "pulls"- you don’t know how much mileage is on them even if they test well at the time of purchase. In my experience, it is getting harder and harder to find truly never used older tubes, and the common ones, as well as the more esoteric pieces, are not only very pricey, but hard to find.
I’ve owned Lamm gear since around 2007-8 -- the ML2 amps and for a long time, the L2 Reference Line stage and didn’t find them to be particularly hard on tubes. I don’t know what Vlad supplies with his phono stages- I usually buy all the tubes for the power amps from him (you almost have to, given that their bias range is matched to the particular amp); I do roll the 12ax7 and though a very common audio tube, I think you’ll find most sold as "NOS" are "pulls."
I haven’t used a 6922 in a while and suspect that the market for those is no different. All the older, common tubes are very hard to find as true NIB.
What Vlad supplies with the amps is fine- some Russian tubes, others a mix, but for that 12ax7, the ML2s really like a ribbed plate old Tele. I think if you look carefully at even well-respected suppliers, they will not make claims of provenance or "never used."
FWIW, I just retubed everything in my main system, from phono stage and its power supply to line stage (which is also not Lamm and likes the old DR variant of the 6h30 to the power amps).
I’ve been fiddling with rectifiers in my phono stage (not Lamm, but Allnic)-- bouncing between a NIB metal base Mullard (Philips) GZ34 and the GEC u52 (which I think I prefer) though the Mullard branded Philips tube has better bass and an undeniable sense of solidity; unfortunately, you give up the higher frequency finesse of the GEC.
All of these tubes are "out there" but are in varying states of condition that a measurement alone won’t predict, in terms of longevity. I just installed some NIB 12ax7 Tele ribbed in the Lamm amps (with another pair of "never used" on the way) and am interested in seeing how long they hold up. My experience with "pulls" has been that if I get two years out of them, I’m good- they don’t all "go bad" suddenly, but lose their bounce. You can hear the difference immediately when you put in a fresh tube. I don’t think Vlad caters to the aftermarket in terms of tube supply. You have to rely on known vendors. Again, see what they are offering based on the fine print. I never had the Lamm phono stages, so can’t tell you about my experience with them and tubes. Sorry for the length of this message.
Bill Hart
I’ve owned Lamm gear since around 2007-8 -- the ML2 amps and for a long time, the L2 Reference Line stage and didn’t find them to be particularly hard on tubes. I don’t know what Vlad supplies with his phono stages- I usually buy all the tubes for the power amps from him (you almost have to, given that their bias range is matched to the particular amp); I do roll the 12ax7 and though a very common audio tube, I think you’ll find most sold as "NOS" are "pulls."
I haven’t used a 6922 in a while and suspect that the market for those is no different. All the older, common tubes are very hard to find as true NIB.
What Vlad supplies with the amps is fine- some Russian tubes, others a mix, but for that 12ax7, the ML2s really like a ribbed plate old Tele. I think if you look carefully at even well-respected suppliers, they will not make claims of provenance or "never used."
FWIW, I just retubed everything in my main system, from phono stage and its power supply to line stage (which is also not Lamm and likes the old DR variant of the 6h30 to the power amps).
I’ve been fiddling with rectifiers in my phono stage (not Lamm, but Allnic)-- bouncing between a NIB metal base Mullard (Philips) GZ34 and the GEC u52 (which I think I prefer) though the Mullard branded Philips tube has better bass and an undeniable sense of solidity; unfortunately, you give up the higher frequency finesse of the GEC.
All of these tubes are "out there" but are in varying states of condition that a measurement alone won’t predict, in terms of longevity. I just installed some NIB 12ax7 Tele ribbed in the Lamm amps (with another pair of "never used" on the way) and am interested in seeing how long they hold up. My experience with "pulls" has been that if I get two years out of them, I’m good- they don’t all "go bad" suddenly, but lose their bounce. You can hear the difference immediately when you put in a fresh tube. I don’t think Vlad caters to the aftermarket in terms of tube supply. You have to rely on known vendors. Again, see what they are offering based on the fine print. I never had the Lamm phono stages, so can’t tell you about my experience with them and tubes. Sorry for the length of this message.
Bill Hart