Tube Recommendations Please

Viva tubes...I bet Audio Research charges way too much for not so special tubes  because, hey, they can. Viva sells "vetted" tubes at some of the best prices.

Yeah, these came from an estate of fabulous vintage audio gear. The Tungsrams I'm speaking about are in boxes that had never been opened... until I popped out two and put them in my linestage. The gentleman was stashing them away for himself and or I'd guess his closest audio friends. Anyway, have made many purchases from all the most reputable dealers. I can test tubes myself so I know exactly what I'm buying once I get them home. Have never been let down. Felt like sharing an incredible tube experience. Thought I had climbed the 12ax7 ladder to the top. I was wrong... always one more rung  

Many of the "NOS" that are sold are pulls.   Be careful who you buy them from.  With ARC gear I would probably buy them from ARC.   Gold Lion 6922 are great when you get quiet ones.   As others have said , Brent Jessee is a trusted source.  Tube Museum out of NYC is also.   He has a bunch of NOS 6922, not cheap but premium tubes.

I have a whole box of tubes that were "NOS" , and I say were NOS because once I bought a tube tester I found a number of them that were not well balanced or barely strong enough to call NOS.    

There are a lot of self proclaimed Tube Dealers out there , be careful.

Pulling this back out but have to share... went from stock Sovtek 12ax7s in my Calypso to NOS Mullards from Upscale. I thought they were terrific in this Linestage. Of course, never satisfied I brought in 2 vintage matched Telefunkens pushed by the hype... they are/were magnificent. Hype realized however, I just came across (8) NOS Tungsrams, yep 8! I can emphatically say this the finest my Calypso/system has ever sounded. The Tungsrams are balance with a deep snappy bottom and just the right amount of sizzle. The midrange is milky smooth and the soundstage is deeper and wider than I have ever experienced. I know these are pretty rare and honestly, where these came from, there's no doubt the origin owner (hoarder) of these incredible tubes knew exactly how magical they perform. I'm not going to keep them all but I am keeping (4) and will sell off the other (4). If anyone's interested LMK. 

Thanks to everyone for the great recommendations.  

Happy listening!

dawgfish, what you described is the Amperex from the late 50s and early 60s, either Holland or US.

     Well: I thought how Brent noise-tested tubes was on that page.

     Here’s how he does it, on YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=205__gxWJc8&t=32s

     Note the socket, for nine-pin miniatures, to the left of the octal.

+1 for Brent Jesse.

there are 50 million threads available on quality tubes for a given tube spec.  search and read them.  e.g. "best 12AX7".  

personally I use NOS for small signal tubes, they sound the best.  

make a selection, buy from a reputable dealer and try them.  if you are serious about it trying different ones is the best way to find what you like.  

@dawgfish -

     You may find this 6DJ8 comparison/survey of interest:

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/6922-tube-review-17-top-6922-6n23p-e88cc-cca-7308-e188cc-tubes.761078/

any of the reliable tube sellers (andy bauman, brent jesse, jim mcshane, kevin deal) will sell you good 6dj8 variants and test them for low noise and triode balance, which, as others have said, is crucial for good performance in a high gain phono stage like the ph-5

i never had a ph-5 but i did have a ph-3se for some time, and for that one, iirc, i really liked usa made old stock amperex orange globe gold pin 6922’s, uk mullards were a little rolled off and german siemens/philips seemed a little too etched

     What facten said, plus 1, regarding Brent Jessee.

     Something VERY important, when tubing a preamp, is finding the LEAST noisy tubes possible.

     Brent uses my favorite method of weeding out noisy tubes. Actually listening to them, as he outlines (a video), on the page that Facten linked.

     I couldn’t agree more, as regards the sound of the Siemens E88CC variants, having used their early 60’s, grey shield, external date coded, CCa’s, in my ARC SP-9 and SP-14 pres, decades back as well as the six, in my current BAT VK-D5.

     I’ve also a few matched pairs of Siemens E188CC and E88CC’s, of the same era and construction, for backup. Their presentation varies precious little, from the CCa, allowing whatever they're fed, to proceed as recorded.

     If your aural taste runs more toward warmth: (the best Siemens and Telefunkens of bygone years, being some of the most uncolored valves extant) you might add a pair of early (same era, early 60’s) Amperex, like their NAVY 6922 or PQ 7308, which will not detract from what the Siemens deliver, in any way (been there/done that, just a tiny bit too warm for my palate).

                            Give Brent a call. He won’t steer you wrong!

I always get tubes from Audio Research. They test them thoroughly and I like to support them. The audio research sound is carefully tailored and i is the sound I would choose. Inexpensive stuff, I would tube roll. Alternatively you can typically get original equipment tubes from The Tube Store (they also recommend “better” tubes) and Upscale.

If you have the funds you might check out a ARC PH8. I had one for many years… an outstanding phono stage. While I moved on to a REF 3… the PH8 was a bargain.

@dawgfish - Aside from other comments that you may get below is a link to Brent Jessee's website page for 6922 tubes . It offers his listening impressions on various brands as well as on the 6922 variants.(I'm not affiliated, just a customer).

https://www.audiotubes.com/6dj8.htm

I use the Siemens 6922 / E88CC in my Modwright PH9.0X and there is nothing like them. Dynamic Bass, Airy Upfront Mids and very controlled highs. I love these out of my entire stash

GE and Sylvania 6DJ8 circa 1960s are real nice sounding tubes!

Start with Audio Research first. Then my choice would be Gold Lyons, although I have not tried the 6922.