Tubes ECC88/6DJ8? Need all the help I can get

Sorry! My mistake: the tubes to be replaced are ECC 82 type... I do need your help the same way. Thanks!

I suggest you wait until you are very familar with the sound of your new amp before you decide you need to improve on you sound. Then you will be able to ask for a specific sounding tube to change what you don't like or improve on certain parts of the sound spectrum, not just a generic "sounds good tube" for all applications.

Go over to www.audioasylum.com and do a search. You will get more information than you can use. Also, another very helpful and reputable dealer is Upscale Audio.com.

In principal I'd agree with Newbee's advice. However, if you are new to tubes it may be difficult to know and describe potential differences without actually rolling tubes (swapping out one for the other in sucession for the sake of comparing the sound) and hearing the potential for differences among tubes yourself. Yes, you should definitely listen to stock, but you'll never know how different it may sound without comparing, and if you have the time, money and inclination it can be fun. Then again, if you like the way it sounds stock, as Newbee suggests, you can also save the time and money if you are not inclined to tweaking. As a VERY general rule of thumb the stock tubes most manufacturers include with their gear CAN be improved upon (most new tube gear that I'm familiar with comes with either current production Russian or Chinese tubes). I'm sure there are exceptions and I'm not familiar with the amp you mentioned so I don't know. Don't know ECC82/12AU7 tubes either, but, again, I'd talk someone like Jon to find out what he thinks for your application. Good dealers know their tubes well. By reputation I'd pay attention to the Mullard and Tungsram tubes in that family. Also, your friend who recomended JJ's may have been referring you to the NOS ECC802S which is a tube JJ Tesla designed specifically for audio use (the 12AU7 design was not originally designed/intended for audio applications, as I understand). Anyway, that JJ tube has a pretty good reputation. Again, no personal experience with this tube family, so I'm only telling you things I've read and recall. Have fun!

I am having fun already! As you all know, this is what audio is all about. I will listen to the original tubes of course and, much probably, keep them for a while. But, as I told before, this is a new world for me. And quite an interesting one. Meanwhile, I have visited audioasylum and I am starting to get the picture: 1. NOS better than current production tubes; 2. NOS are many times fake! 3. And some good models like Amperex 7316... One more thing: if the original tubes are ECC82/12AU7, I suppose I have to use this and only this tube type - am I correct? So what about NOS ECC802S as Jax2 mentioned: same family?