need tube advice from tube preamp owners.

You are really putting the cart ahead of the horse. Let your new pre-amp break in first then listen to it carefully for a few months and decide what about its sound you would like to improve, then post a question like "My pre-amp has rolled off highs (or bright highs), what tubes could I change to get a better balance" and what brands would you recommend". Then you will get a meaningful response. Otherwise recommendations are a WAG.

Bigjoe, The point in my post was, first of all, you should let your amp break in and become accoustomed to what it sounds like in stock form. Once you have done that you can decide how to change its sonic signature - thats what most folks are doing when they change tubes. If you have no idea what you would like to improve how can you select tubes? You can ask on this forum what kind of tubes some one else uses in their amp but while thats specific it only really has meaning if you have heard their system in their room and you must know what kind of sound they prefer, for example I like a neutral sound and place a great deal of emphasis on clarity of tone. But a lot of folks want warm sounding tubes w/bass emphasis, and some like their tubes to have a slight emphasis or extra energy in the highs.

If you have no reference, i.e. what you want your system to sound like and you just change tubes because some one else sez that brand X sounds great in your amp you are likely to find your self spending a lot of money unnecessarily. Joes Tube Lore is a great starting place for an understanding of the difference in tubes, BUT the real measure of how a tube sounds is how it sound in YOUR amp, not how it sounds in mine. For example, until a few weeks ago I couldn't find a place for some EH12AX7a I bought to experiment with. Too much high energy. Voila, I got a new amp and for some reason they sound just fine.

Just trying to save you some frustration and money....sorry.

Bigjoe, The type and brand of tubes does make a large difference in the sound of a pre amp (or any other tube devise) - no doubt. If I may suggest, most specific recommendations you will get when you ask on this forum will be for NOS tubes, and not without some good reason, however NOS tubes can be a minefield loaded with hype and expense. Depending on the tube involved and the requirements of your component new production tubes can be as good and always much cheaper. If you want to get an easy lesson in how tubes sound start with new production tubes, many of which are modelled after old production and the sound difference isn't huge if even extant.

I'm not familar with the tube requirements of your amp, but if it requires a 12AX7a you could try JJ/Teslas (modelled after Mullards) for a warmer tone, EH's for a brighter tone, and EI's (my favorites) for a neutral tone and clarity. If it requires 6DJ8's you can try JJ/Tesla's for a warm tone, 6h23EB's for a very quiet and neutral to cool tone (not really a new production tube but fairly cheap for NOS),Sovtek LPS (or EH)for a cool tone if you need a very quiet tube, EI's for a neutral tone and clarity. There are others out there as well, I just mention these as a starting point which will give you an idea about how you might wish to voice your pre-amp. Once you have that pinned down if you have the dough and desire you can more selectively research the NOS market.