IMO, NOS is very overrated. The most important thing is quality capacitors, well built power supply, quality circuit, and a well matched dammping factor between amp and speakers. NOS is just a blip in a far more complex chain of events. Good tubes by Winged C, and JJ are as good as NOS, and even better in some cases. NOS is a good way to make a lot of money on old tubes. NOS is hard to match, and many have a lot of hours on them. I like new, but do have NOS too, I just buy new now after comparing the two. A bad circuit cannot be saved by NOS. Point to point with no PCB is great and quality caps like v-cap will do more than NOS ever hoped to do. NOS and power cords are similar IMO in that they are very over emphasized and emphasis should be elsewhere. Jallen
Can excellent tubes transcend modest amps?
I am wondering how far a good but not amazing amp design with decent parts such as Antique Sound Lab AQ1003 DT or a Jolida 302B can be improved by putting top notch NOS tubes? In other words, is it worth buying a used $500 integrated and give it an extreme tube make over for $200-400 rather than buying say a PrimaLuna or Cayin in the $800-900 range with its stock tubes?