Tube Dealer Recommendation

Here's a BAD experience tale...for no reason in particular I ordered a matched pair of gold pin blah blah Psvane 12AX7-T IIs from China. They arrived with one tube looking sadly oversprayed and off kilter. I had 'em send a second pair (sent the first ones back) and after various angry (from me anyway) Ebay rants they sent me a second pair that are fine. Took forever. The good news is that these tubes are the best sounding 12AX7s I've ever heard. Next time I'll get 'em from Grant Fidelity in Canada!

I've bought a bunch of tubes from Upscale over the years - including one binge purchase of (IIRC) 6 different output tube types in matched quad sets to rotate thru my Prima Luna mono amps. I've always had a great experience at Upscale and I've got nothing but good things to say about Kevin. Just one more data point for you.

Brent Jesse has helped me a couple of times and I have been very pleased with his suggestions and quality of tubes.

I've dealt many times over the years with Andy of VTS. I've gotten nothing but great results from him, fair, knowledgable and quality tubes. There is one recommended here that I wouldn't based on some tubes I purchased from him, both failed in short order, maybe bad luck, maybe weak tubes, should have checked them first which I now do when I purchase tubes from any source based on that experience.

+1 for Upscale Audio ... sent him a message this morning and got a same day reply with solid information. Just explain your situation and your budget. Not the lowest cost, but worth the piece of mind.