Current Production 12AY7 Tubes?

[The Ballzz]

Hey All,

Wondering about finding good production 12AY7 tubes. The discussion of preamp tubes is often dominated by the much more popular 12AX7/ECC83 variants, but the disparity between various 12AY7s seems even more drastic. I have a pile of various brands and most sound like ASS! I have TAD, SINO, Chinese, TungSol, JJ and Sovtek and they all sound either wimpy, lackluster or sterile!The best sounding 12AY7 I have is an old Wurlitzer or Baldwin (I think) branded GE. Although it can be intermittently noisy, the tone is glorious. Given that I have a 5E3, needing 1 12AY7 and my new build requires 3 of them, I need to find some good ones. And I'd prefer to avoid having a drawer full of overpriced, generally useless junk!

Any Suggestions?
Gene

[martin manning]

Tried EH? I think they generally get good reviews.