? Tube Replacement Question ?

Ram Tubes
Jim McShane
Antique Electronic supply

I always buy a new tube set when I get a new piece of equipment. Worst case, (outside of spending extra money) is I then have a spare set which is very useful, especially in diagnosing quickly if I have a tube problem or something else has gone wrong. Normally I do not buy new tubes from the manufacturer. Not only are they generally overpriced, but they are generally new production only because the company has to keep a large stock of known quality tubes on hand. The bigger the company the bigger this consideration.
I suggest you are doing the right thing posting on the internet for advice. Keep reading until you have the names of the handful of reliable suppliers of NOS and speciality tubes to Audiogon and Audio Asylum members.

http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=43982.0
It's not easy getting a quiet reliable tube.

Never base tube purchases on the name brand of the manufacturer.
Only an expert reseller can tell who actually made a tube, or its condition.
Fraud and misunderstandings abound in the NOS business, not to mention
the buying and selling of brand names and the relocation of factories in China and Russia etc.
The reliable reseller earns his fee and stands behind his performance rating.

Some years back a friend who was not a "tinkerer" bought a used Hybrid ARC line preamp. Not being sure how old "the" tubes was he contacted ARC and purchased the correct replacement from them directly. It took me some weeks to convince him to let me take the cover off and try one of my old RAM tubes. When we finally did his jaw dropped. No question that immediately it was quieter.

I recently owned the power amp, VS55 that matches your preamp. When I bought it I emailed Jim McShane and was very pleased with his prompt reply and his knowledge. I took him up on one of his suggestions and was very pleased with the results. My trade is law. I do tinker, but I also respect expertise. Especially when the one providing it is willing to explain and offer alternatives.

"...the quiet ones were where they needed to be (phono input, Post RIAA amp, and line input).The not so quiet ones went where they didn't cause any problems (cathode followers and intermediate gain stages. By doing this we could use 95% of the tubes. You don't need a quiet tube everywhere and that is why RAM Tubes come in 4 grades." RM