Transformer machine, Trinity, and a tube shootout!

The computer controlled transformer winding machine has arrived.  I'm in the process of getting custom tooling made for it so I can mount my various custom bobbins on it.  Also in the process of learning how to program it.  I posted a photo recently on Instagram of one of my input transformers with the machine in the background.  I have now designed a mic input transformer, a line input transformer, and two different iron output transformers.  All of these designs and the whole point of making transformers is for my beloved Trinity channel strip, which brings me to the next order of business.

Its the end of 2019 and I have decided to stop making FX pedals by the end of this month.  Its not profitable enough to justify continuing.  I could potentially spend a lot of time redesigning them to be more profitable, but I'd rather put my time into completing Trinity and moving forward with that.  Its a project that requires as much time as I can throw at it.  Its currently in beta testing at several studios, so definitely nearing product completion.  I'm currently developing a big revision that introduces a mid-band, inductor-based, passive EQ control on the front panel.  Waiting on the new front panel prototype to be manufactured.  The new control is like the bass and treble knobs in the sense that it can boost or cut, with a flat response when centered (noon).  There is also going to be a mid frequency selector which allows the user to choose 300Hz or 2kHz.  I'll be manufacturing the mid-band inductors in house on the new computer controlled winding machine.

Last week I did two extensive and scientific vacuum tube shootouts (for the purpose of finding the tubes I will use in the production model of Trinity).  Each tube was allowed to warm up for exactly 5 minutes.  I ran the same audio passage (part of a pre-recorded song) through each tube for 1 minute and recorded that back into my DAW.  After each tube was recorded I proceeded with extensive listening.  I also measured the total gain (volume) of each tube.  The first shootout was for the EF86 (EF806S) vacuum tube, in which I compared a GE NOS tube, the regular pin JJ tube, the gold pin JJ tube, and a regular pin EH tube.  It was no surprise to me that the NOS tube sounded the warmest, but I was a bit surprised to find that it also had the highest amount of gain. 
NOS GE (USA) EF86 - Highest Gain, Warmest tone
JJ Gold Pin (Slovok Republic) EF806s - Nearly as much gain as the NOS tube and almost as nice sounding.  It was a close runner up!  .1dB volume drop over NOS.  
JJ Regular Pin EF806s - Similar tone to the gold pin version, but definitely murkier sounding/a bit dull.  This had the least amount of gain out of all the tubes.  .6dB drop. 
EH regular pin (Russia) EF86 - This was the least expensive tube tested and surprisingly it was not bad.  Its brighter and more detailed sounding than the regular pin JJ and also considerably louder.  It doesn't have the warmth of the JJ and NOS tubes, but its price outweighs those factors for me considering it had a volume drop of just .2dB over NOS and I like the sound of it much more than the regular pin JJ.     

Next shootout was for the 6DJ8 / 6922 vacuum tube.  
NOS Philips (USA) - Benchmark.  I've used these for years and love them.  
JJ regular pin 6922 - Not a fan of the tone here.  Its similar to the EF806s regular pin version in tone.  .4dB volume drop over NOS.
EH regular pin 6922 - Wow.  That's a serious tube for the money.  Similar tone to the EH regular pin EF86, but this bad boy has  +.2dB in volume over NOS.  The JJ 6922 is a little less expensive, but not by much.  This tube is a clear winner in my book.
EH gold pin 6922 - I tested this just out of curiosity since the price is too high to justify putting it in a product.  Much to my surprise and happiness, this tube sounded so similar to the NOS Philips tube I couldn't really tell the difference.  The gain was also spot on with NOS.  Unfortunately, the price is also spot on with NOS.   

In summary, I really didn't want to like the Electro-Harmonix tubes because I didn't want their brand to be associated with mine, but the price is really nice and they are actually very good tubes.  I will be using them in the production of my Trinity channel strips.  As for the gold pin tubes, I really thought it was just marketing until I conducted this shootout.  I didn't expect the gold pin tubes to sound much better at all.  Sure enough the gold pin tubes sounded closer to NOS than anything I came across before.  Their price is also about the same as NOS tubes, so is it worth it?