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

In that tube family E88CC/E88CCa/6DJ8/6922 you have a plethora of choices. Many of the best tubes are no longer being made and are available NOS at premium prices. If you get NOS it's best to buy from a reputable dealer, especially if you are just starting out with tube gear. It is difficult to say exactly which tube will work best in your amp, in your system, in your room, to your ears, with your musical preferences. That said, of the NOS tubes in that family two of the favored flavors at the high end are both German made and pricy (read: $50-100 each!) are:

Siemens Halske E88CCa
Telefunken E88CCa

There are many counterfit tubes out their of these types/brands so again, best to buy from a reputible dealer if you don't know how to spot a fake.

For less money (about $35 each) some folks have been happy with the Soviet Rocket tube which is a 6H30, and is a substitute for the 6DJ8 family. It will not work for all applications as something in the design is slightly different, but I cannot recall what. Check with the tube dealer for your application and see what they recommend. I think JJ Tesla does indeed make some great tubes, but have never heard their E88CC recommended highly over the competition, but have also never tried them out myself.

My personal preference for tube dealers is Jon at The Tube store up in Canada. There are other fine dealers which you can get recommendations for here and on AudioAsylum. Jon has never let me down so I stick with him.

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!