I love my stereo tube amps and preamp. Not only does my system sound wonderful but I love tubes as objects themselves. These are the original electronics and I

I love my stereo tube amps and preamp. Not only does my system sound wonderful but I love tubes as objects themselves. These are the original electronics and I nerd out using them. Recently I got some 12j5gt tubes made by National Union. They were made for the military (Joint Army Navy, JAN) and had the date October 1942 on the boxes. I got a bit of a thrill out of the idea I was the first person in 80 years to see these. Call it nostalgia or whatever but actually using 80 year old electronics is just fun. Most of the tubes that have become expensive are the ones that guitarists swear by. GEC KT66 and KT88 along with Mullard EL34 have surged in value as the supply has dried up. In the audio world the most expensive tubes are the 300B and especially the original 300A triodes. While Americans were in the process of throwing out and destroying the old Western Electric tubes, Japanese audiophiles started buying them up starting in the 80s. A tremendous number of the existing vintage WE tubes are now there and in China. The current version of the Western Electric 300b tubes have a very good reputation but there are other boutique manufacturers in Germany and Japan that also make highly regarded versions. I own 400+ tubes. Like I said, I like them for their history and as amazing objects. I don’t own any really expensive ones but I have had fun finding alternative tubes for my equipment that are less expensive but have the same sonics as the more expensive ones. For example I can use tubes with heater voltages other than the common 6v. I have also done things like use a pentode tube converted to a triode. Lots of fun and it sounds amazing.