All "super tubes" are not created equal. The last BAT VK-300SE I purchased (three years old at the time) had noisy 6H30s. I purchased a new pair from Audio Research which were gritty and progressively noisy after three months. I finally "bit the bullet" and acquired two NOS "DR" tubes from BAT -$300 a pop (these were stamped ’91 as the year of manufacture). These have performed well and sound good.
