What prices are you seeing? They don't appear to be that hefty in price, at least compared to real old stock Telefunken ECC803S (12AX7) which now go for around $1300 each. In the right circuit, these are all very long-lived tubes, so you might be able to justify the price that way. I run ECC803S tubes in my phono stage. Sadly, they are far from the most expensive tubes in my system. Try pricing 348 tubes (I run 6 of these) and 349 tubes (I run 4 of these). I also run a bunch of 310s and two 300b (these are RECTIFIERS).
Tubes can be quite pricey.
Tubes can be quite pricey.