Today's production tubes are down at least 20% or more on gain from spec on average.
The gain on each run of each type of each tube from each maker varies widely from tube to tube even in the same batch.
So ... the only way to do what you want is to hand pick and hand test and hand trace and hand spec at least 50 tubes to try to find a handful of good ones. This is what I do for all my blueprinting clients ... if you ever see a copy of the paperwork that was done on a particular amp each tube is documented for plate current, gain, transconductance, plate resistance and other factors so it is known what the tube is actually doing and we can replicate things when retubing the amp ... or go up, down, left or right or whatever. You cannot know where you can go if you don't know where you are in the first place.
If you want a proper gain / spec tube in V1 of your particular amp and a matched phase inverter in V2 then go to www.kcanostubes.com and say hello to Mike from me
They're Epiphone valve junior heads. So they came with the cheapest tubes possible I'm sure... One began to squeal like a pig on day 2. So, I immediately put GTs in them I picked up from GC. I was told that the higher the number on the matched sets of GTs, the higher the output before break up. So, I got the highest numbers they had laying around. 6 or 7s I think... If the description of the rating system is accurate, is there a 9 or a 10 and who would make that? Or, was that description just bunk?
So, I take it no particular brand has a cleaner louder brighter punchier tone?
Background: I use the heads like power amps for my Line 6 rig. I'm trying to get just enough clip to compress and round transients, but with clean low end power (punchiness) and little if any breakup. They are fairly accurate now (surprisingly so for what I paid). However, when I start pushing them to where I could possibly use them on stage, they begin to get flubbery in the bass (not enough power to pull the voice coils back) and break up in the midrange. I keep the gain knob at just under 12 o'clock (50%)...
Thanks for your previous reply and your help for this board. I've learned lots from reading your replies.