Are expensive valves worth it?

[7 Dying Trees]

I just retubed the old triaxis and kind of blew a substantial amount on some New Old Stock german tubes, all matched high gain low microphony...

...and they sound fantastic, probably better than the tubes that were in it ever did, loads more gain and just brighter and more alive. Just makes one want to play

Does anyone else think that shelling out for the right tubes is worth it or that it really doesn't matter that much?

 

[Strigoi]

I've used both NOS and current tubes and I don't think they're worth the difference in price. I use 12AX7EH preamp tubes except for the 2 NOS 12AT7's I use in the phase inverter positions in my amp. You probably would've noticed a big difference in tone just changing from the tubes you already had to a new set. You might want to try a set of 12AX7EH or Sovtek 12AX7LPS tubes in your Triaxis to compare to your NOS set.