Fav Tube/Best tube

E80CC my all time fav, any brand, all sound nearly identical (pinched waist, getter stuff = snakeoil)
Tungsten, Siemes, Philips = same tube.
some have rhodium pins, ebay seller claims *sought after = superior to brass pins*,,,but these rhodium pins, do not have the copper posts, which i perfer. I will have to roll the E80’s , so far I perfer vavlo by a *hair*, but can not say for sure, as all sound nearly identical, at least to my poor hearing( I failed a hearing test at Valero Refinery some yrs back , but only in testing the highest FQ’s).
Next fav tube
is Tele 12AX7, Siemens are very close,,at least as far as i can tell, have not made a further compare on that as yet.
Next and last is the power drivers.
For that I’ll have to go with the KT150’s, which i’ve not heard, but am sure will love that tube.
When I rolled the 90’s to 88’s, i might have perfered the 88’s ,,,both sound very close,,,,sorry i should have made more shootouts on those 2 , before i sold off the 90’s.
Considering nearly all amps come with stock 88’s, that pretty much confirms the 88’s is the all around best tube for most amps, |
BUt if you have power to spare in your trans, as my Defy does (2 side trans run cold, mid trans runs slightly warm,,and thats running super low super high demanding 87 db speakers!!! Testimony to jadis' trans, built like german tanks, yet sing like ,,,,, Heavenly Angels) the 150’s is the best option as a long term investment.

So thats my 3
1) E80(far superior to the wimpy 12AU7’s, if the e80 did not exist, the 12AU7 is a excellent tube <<<tongue in cheek>>>)
2)Tele12AX7
3),KT150’s.
and yours?
and go ahead and dunk all snakeoil you’ve heard over the years about certain aspects of a tube, such as *Holy Grails*