Upscale audio advice


I have been looking to change the tubes on my BAT VK-30 from the Russian made 6922/6h23 which work fine but am looking into upgrading them. I looked at the Upscale selection and a few options initially caught my eye. These are as follows:
1)Amperex 7308 vintage gold pin
2)Amperex 6DJ8/ECC88 Bugle Boy
3)Ediswan CV2492/6922
4)Mullard 2493/6922 & Mullard E188CC/7308

All of which, if I choose their Platinum grade, range from $70 to $110.00 each which seemed pretty reasonable to me. The problem is, their sales guys tells me that none of these are suitable for my Pre-amp. He goes on to tell me that the only units that will work are the very same 6H23's that I already have. Is this sound advice from them given the fact that I would like to spend some decent coin to upgrade or do they not wish to deal with me? I have seen in other forums that they tend to want to sell to customers who have purchased equipment from them. Is this true? I do want to change my tubes given the fact that they are about 5 yrs old and definately are due for a change. I find it hard to believe that the only option they have that will work with my VK-30 would be these cheaper $35.00 per tube units. Any further comments anybody may want to add to this or advice you may have for me?
vinylmad814

Showing 4 responses by vinylmad814

I did contact Victor and he said contact Kevin @Upscale lol

Victor was not sure as to what tubes to recommend which somewhat surprised me given he is MR BAT. He states he is no expert on the the variety of tubes that are out there unfortunately.
Hello Djohnson54

Which tubes did you end up purchasing from Upscale audio? I am curious. I certainly got the feeling that the Inside guy was adamant about the majority of what they stocked was incompatable with the VK-30 not the VK-30SE. Much to my dismay, he clearly stated that the 6922-6H23's which I have already were the only ones that they would recommend and that would work properly. Go figure :(. I heard that the Genalox Gold Lions would work and that they would be definately an upgrade over the 6H23's. Who Knows lol
Oh,
Thank you for all of your responses. If you have anything further to add please do so!!!!
Just for an update I have tried 6 Holland made BUGLE BOYS. They sound very good compared to the 6h23's that they replaced. So that answers one question is that I can use more than the Russian made tubes as I was told a few months back. Hope they last more than 2 weeks though.
I had questions on mixing tubes on a thread I started last night.