I need a new amp, reccomendations?

[philco]

Getting the most out of the amp you already have can be a good way to upgrade. JJ, Electro-Harmonix, and Ei are now making preamp tubes that are as good as any but the very best NOS tubes. They are superior to some of my NOS tubes in my amps. A lot of the NOS American tubes being sold now are the dregs that got discarded when the honest guys who sell premium handpicked tubes dumped their rejects off on other resellers of dubious character. In output tubes, there is one NOS American tube that is presently in good supply and is of high quality. It is the NOS Philips 5881 that is now on sale at Angela Instruments for $15 each. I ordered several and they test very good. I will not be buying any more NOS Tung-Sol 5881 tubes at any price over $20 each, as these Philips 5881 tubes are nearly as good. Watford Valves has a large stock of these tubes as well, and are highly recommending them, for you Brits that like "old Yankee valves". I cannot see paying much more for NOS 6L6/5881 or EL34/6CA7 output tubes, as JJ and Svetlana are putting out some really fine new ones for $15 each. Ei puts out a nice EL84 for $15 per pair. We're in tall cotton again, boys!

The NOS GE 5751 is selling at a reasonable price, for those who prefer a NOS American preamp tube that has slightly lower gain than a 12AX7/ECC83 tube. I am thinking of laying up a small stash of them since they cost little more than the good new valves. But the Sovtek 5751 is also a good tube for around $10, and they are bound to get even better. There may be some profit potential in laying up some GE 5751 tubes, as they fell through the cracks when the 12AX7 and 12AU7 types were getting grabbed by tube hoarders. Conrad-Johnson uses them in their audiophile preamps, so they are bound to be good.

Changing your tubes, installing a better loudspeaker, and cleaning your pots, switches, and connectors, then tightening things down to get rid of all the rattles, could do more for you than getting a new amp. For small combo amps that use an 8", 10", or 12" loudspeaker and a single pair of output tubes, the cost will be around $100 to $200 if you stay away from overpriced NOS tubes and premium alnico speakers. Considering that most new amps come with ****** tubes that need to be changed anyway, and a Vintage 30 loudspeaker for around $110 or a Vintage 8 for $65 are the most expensive speakers you will ever need in any but the most fanatical situations, upgrading a good basic amp is a very cost effective proposition. It cost me $75 to upgrade my Kustom Tube 12 with a Vintage 8 speaker and an Ei ECC83 tube, and the improvement was VERY noticeble. With mint condition used Tube 12 amps selling for well under $100 (mine cost $79 and was virtually unused), this is a good route to go for those demanding high value in a small practice amp. It's entirely possible to set yourself up with a very good combo amp for $250 or less if you do the work yourself. Lots of good used amps never got the credit they deserved and are waiting for an owner to lavish a little TLC on them to reveal their full potential.