[mulveling]

I once bought a pair of old 5751 from Brent Jesse, and one of the pins was so loose it came right out. There was obviously no malicious intent, I was presented recourse options to my satisfaction, and I would buy from Brent Jesse in the future. To be fair it was also a rather old 5751 (early 1950's) where this kind of issue is more likely. Other sellers have also shipped me 9-pin tubes with a loose or just plain missing pin (and I would buy again from them, too). That said, I can't see this kind of detail getting by someone like Andy at VTS, or Upscale Audio. All of the big tube sellers have their foibles, but Upscale, Brent Jesse, and VTS are among those that are trustworthy.

Incidentally I've used Upscale-sourced Amperex 7308 in a Sonic Frontiers Phono 1, and it sounded great!! Some folks do take issue with Kevin's personality, but whenever I've dared to call I always make very clear that I'm there to for a purchase and not to waste time; never had an issue. And their web system is great now, so you'd hardly ever need to call.