reliable tube sources

Call Andy Bowman at Vintage Tubes. You can also try Kevin Deal at Upscale Audio. Kevin may or may not sell to you as he likes keeping his stock for customers who purchase equipment from him. Both are extremely experienced.

Email audiogon member "longplate" a real tube expert who can help you out with your NOS tube needs.

I have dealt with all three of the above mentioned tube afficianados. All are very reputable,knowledgeable and helpful as well as being nice guys. Additionally, Adondysh , another "audiogoner" has - in my experience - proven himself and deserves mention. Turner Truitt/Atlanta

Dave: Try emailing Lonplate. He will be receiving some stock that may be just what you are looking for. Also what tubes are installed in the amp now and do you have any idea as to how many hours are on them?

The tubes in my preamp are the stock sovteks, vocals sound pretty good but everything else is lacking in a big way

Maybe they are spent as the Sovteks usually do vocals last on the list. When they are on the down side they start to sound bright (brittle) and thin. Is this what you are experiencing? The Audioasylum.com tube forum should have the search feature back up next week. Try doing a search under your amp and see what people are using in it with good results (other than Sovteks). This will give you an idea, anyway, of what to look for.

Kevin at Upscale Audio has steered me in the right direction a couple of times when I "needed" NOS tubes for my VTL gear. He did not make an issue out of the fact that I'd not purchased any actual gear from him. Also, Upscale is a Sonic Frontiers dealer, so I would think that Kevin would definitely be able to give you good feedback on choosing tubes. -Chris

No Kevin Deal wouldn't deal with me because I hadn't purchased my gear through him. He didn't have it in stock at the time I wanted it and didn't give me a time it would be in.

Just for clarity Upscale Audio sells most of its tubes, even the rarest, to anybody. The reason for the hold on certain 6922 and 7308 types is most dealers are out, and we were going to run out in six months. As it is now we sell them only if you buy gear here and will have stock for 7-10 years.

Poke around Dave for Amperex 7308. Or maybe Siemens 7308. I wish I could have helped you, but if you persevere you can find some.

That preamp is a clean slate. Very neutral. Low output impedence. If your system is exhibiting a certain balance you don't like, treat the system in the most cost effective way.

That would be a pair of tubes and speaker placement.