This forum is definitely a great resource for all things audio,  I am wondering if there are recommendations for guides/books/resources for someone who knows next to nothing about the different tube types/numbers/what they do/how they sound.  A beginners guide if you will.

I see lots of discussion of options and how you can manipulate the sound - but most of it still sounds like Greek to me.

Thank you for any suggestions,


Andrew

a large part of my tube education came at the cost of pissing away alot of money and making mistakes , jumping the gun on scores, over buying, the nature of nos (vintage tubes) etc .

written words and specs can be used as a rough guide but hands on use in various pieces of gear can only come with real world experience.

took me about 5 years and a large hole in my wallet to figure out I didnt want to see another 6dj8 again for the rest of my life. ( based on gear I was using at the time in the 90's ) but in saying that ? there may be circuits that are less finicky with the 6dj8 that I never dealt with.

The education is never ending.

What fascinates me still are the many unknown/forgotten tubes that are sometimes rediscovered. I used to build little preamps from an old DHT tube (3S4) used back in the 50's for battery powered radio (like at the beach). Most interestingly, the sound is a whole lot better than you would expect.
A few years later, the SP1 also a Directly Heated Triode tube, was and is being used in preamps by such kit manufacturers as Nelson Pass, and Pete Millett. Again, kind of a head shaker they sound so good.