Wayne, I have eight valve art 2A3's and five of them make that popping or ticking to one degree or another. I also have a pair of golden dragons and two pairs of sovteks which don't. So just based on this experience I don't buy the Valve Arts now. One thing which I have noticed from reading other peoples posts and from talking to other 2A3 users is that the tonal character is very system and operating point dependent. As an example, if I use the sovteks in one amp I made, they are much brighter and more extended on the bass than the valve arts, but on another amp the top seems slightly rolled off on the sovteks. The sovteks can be run at higher operating points than most 2A3's and if you're making your own amps that does make them attractive for experimenting. One thing I'm sure of is that there are no absolutes (except that the popping noise is really annoying).
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