Which tubes are the best?

NOS tubes almost invariably beat out new production stuff....in both sound and life span.  There are a bunch of NOS brands that beat the snot out of JJ's, that's for sure.  I bought a Carver Crimson 275 that had the JJ 12 xx 7 signal tubes and I put in Telefunkens from the late 50's in and it was a revelation.  The I changed the Tungsol KT88, although the Tungsol are a pretty good power tube, with the Dawning Series Shuguang WEKT88 PLUS tubes.  I had an entirely different amp.  Just stunning.  Now in the past I wouldn't give you a nickel for any Chinese tube but I had tried the WE6SN7 PLUS Shuguang tubes in the Don Sachs pre at Don's suggestion and it was a stunning change.  I also prefer the NOS PHILLIPS  5U4G or Mullard GZ34 rectifier in my tube DAC.  Both from the 60's I believe.  In the DAC I also use NOS Siemens or Telefunken as the signal tubes.  The new production tubes just  have no comparison.  They are more expensive but well worth it in my opinion.  Brent Jesse and Andy at Vintage Tube Services are my go to guys.  And if what you order isn't the sound for you?  Just send them back.  But both these guys will put you in the right direction if you tell them the sound you're looking for.

Way back when Gold Aero were the best. That company got tubes from all over then tested and would only sell the ones that tested the best but good luck finding any..

I will agree that, once you’ve decided what tubes sound best to your ears, you’re probably going to keep your fav tubes in and not keep rolling them. 
In our Leben CS600, we rolled a bunch of stuff (including Russian Military Grade options) and finally decided that the GGLs sounded best for the type of music we listen to in that room (acoustic folk and acoustic country). 
That’s not to say it wasn’t fun hear how the different tubes sounded with different musical styles—especially thru Leben electronics. 

@milpai,exactly! And for him to put his name with the aforementioned new tubes says a lot itself. That he will go into something he doesn’t like and swallow his ego and say that he likes them. 
I’ll try those out for sure. Just not at his prices lol. I buy enough nos tubes off the guy

resurrecting this thread. Im between new Tung Sol 6550 and Gold Lion KT88's. Preferences?