[HBR] Octals and such

[Ron Barlow via HBR]

 Here is $.02 on the octal vs miniature tube discussion, FWIW.
 When I was a young guy (looooooong ago), I shunned octal type tubes (and to even a greater degree, their 4, 5, 6 & 7 pin predecessors), like the plague! Newer was better, in my "brainwashed" mind!
 So, most of my homebrew projects used (salvaged) miniatures.
 My interest in electronics led to my employment as a radio/tv service guy, for a number of years. After a while, I began to notice that the miniatures with their unplated base pins (with a few exceptions, such as the Realistic brand) seemed to be much more susceptible to base contact issues, and internal shorts (due to closer element spacing, I suspected), compared to the older bottles.
 In addition, I realized that some of those old bottles had some rather impressive performance numbers. The 6SG7 has a slightly higher gm than the 6BA6 (4700 vs 4300), & the 6AC7 has a gm of 9000.
 Yes, the octals that I mentioned are semi remote, and sharp cutoff, respectfully. No issue for me, as I do not use AGC.
 Long and short, I developed some new found respect for some of the older tube types. YMMV!
                73 de Ron