Do military/industrial tubes sound better than regular ones ?

Or they are usually just more rugged and longer lasting? I am particularly interested in 12AX7 and 12AU7 RCA blackplates from early and late 50s.

They are often double the price, but that would not be my main concern in this case because even regular ones should last for a very long time.

In other words, I would like to have best sounding RCA blackplates in my VAC Avatar SE, and longer lasting would be a bonus.

inna02-06-2025 10:02pm

oddiofyl Details Discussions Posts This discussion Message User 4,072 posts 02-07-2025 at 02:20am Copy Comment URL Report Comment Edit Delete Be careful buying " medical" and " instrument" grade tubes. Especially 6922 as they were used in a lot of test equipment. Many are not NOS , they were pulled from gear as it was phased out and replaced by solid state. "Pulls" as they are known. Many of those tubes were robust and still tested as new when pulled. Plain white boxes and weak lettering is a red flag.