So, pre-amp is supposed to arrive on Friday. I can't wait.
According to the seller, who seems reputable, it only has 200 hours on it in total and the new tubes have 0 hours. So this pre-amp isn't even burned in. I was a little suspicious about a 3 year old pre-amp with only 200 hours but the seller travels a lot or so the story goes.
Obviously, I don't have to look for tubes for the pre-amp except maybe for the 6550 tube in the power supply.
Is it actually worth trying a different tube there?
Now, I've got to think about tubes for my REF150. It has 1525 hours even though the seller said that it only had 750. It basically had double that when I received it.
Although I would normally get the tubes from Audio Research, has anyone purchased tubes from some other source and had no issues?