Phonoland

Hello, I would like to know which brand of tubes do you guys use, what brand to stay away from.
I need a quad set of EL84'S

You have "unknowingly" opened a "can of worms" here--
ALL tube brands are, and were, subject to "bad runs". Tubes in the USA were made by several companies, and "brand names" of any company may have been stamped on them, as they made them for each other. Some people claim that they can tell which brand tube is being used, but my hearing, even when I was young, was never good enough to tell--IMHO, that's something like wine tasting--if I like it, it's good ( and when I was younger, we used to judge the quality of the wine sold in any particular establishment, by the number of, and appearance of the "girls" in the establishment) HTH Ron Rich

Vacuum tubes for the most part are no longer manufactured in the U.S. The primary source of tubes are from Russia and China. Detailed information can be found on http://www.vacuumtube.com/faq1.htm

Thanks for the imfo. I enjoy a good conversation, so i liked this can of worms....lol

You opened the can. Now we gotta get a bigger can to recan the worms.

Back in the days of tubes, I often had to hand select tubes to get the performance I needed.

For the avarage phongraph I am not sure how much it matters, but for the audiophile in an expensive component system, even the ones built from Magnavox console pulls, it is a very big deal. Mullards and the older RCAs are often mentioned. I have noticed that the new tube manufacturers are improving there products in the wake of renewed interest in "tube" sound. A company called Parts Express has expanded it's line of tubes for sale. I for one keep all older tubes I find, especially NOS... just because. Offhand I cannot say that I would be able to tell the difference right off between various tubes but as I listen for a while I am sure the differences would become apparent.