Many of us spend a few more dollars on tubes, ESPECIALLY IN OUR PREAMPS, to get the "lowest microphony" possible. eg. on the Upscale Audio site and other sites you can get the "Platinum grade" tubes, that have already been tested, matched. make sure to buy from a dealer who not only matches your tubes, but writes down the specs of the tests, and put them on the tube box for your use, and to reassure you.
If you can afford i lucas, i would suggest researching tubes a bit (eg upscale site- can call them too), then buying some new tubes ASAP, get them burned in for a week or two, then compare them to your old tubes ... .rather than possibly trying to figure out what is wrong with the current tubes (takes time, patience, research, tests) would encourage you to get some great tubes ASAP.
life is too short for crappy tubes.
If you can afford i lucas, i would suggest researching tubes a bit (eg upscale site- can call them too), then buying some new tubes ASAP, get them burned in for a week or two, then compare them to your old tubes ... .rather than possibly trying to figure out what is wrong with the current tubes (takes time, patience, research, tests) would encourage you to get some great tubes ASAP.
life is too short for crappy tubes.