@Wes_S thank you, buddy!
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These 4 links below, are real Bad Boys.
The link below, is not a real Bad Boy.
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The Bad Boys are gone. All the true NOS ones, anyway. Trust me.
The market doesn’t want to admit it because they are so popular, and mislabeled tubes make a lot of ignorant/deceitful sellers a lot of money.
The real ones are almost always used, and even those will go for $300 to $500, or more.
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I grabbed this one @ProfFalkin that’s the one you sent me a link to awhile back, this tube is G2G yeah?
Yep that one’s good to go. I’ve purchased many tubes from Viva, they are a good seller.
Give it a good 40+ hours burn in before judging sound.
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One thing I like about Viva - If they source tubes that are really NOS, they list it as true NOS. If it measures like a NOS tube, but they can’t verify if it’s been used or not, they say measures NOS.
They are the only ones in the tube game that I’m aware of, besides maybe Brent Jessee, that are that honest with what they sell.
One drawback though, they sell so many tubes, they usually only take 1 photo per tube. If you’re looking for something about the tube (plate structure, mica shape, getter type, copper posts, etc) that isn’t in the description, the photos usually won’t help.
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@Wes_S thank you for the rundown and links. This will help us immensely with our journey into the sinkhole 
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Always glad to help! Tubes bring life to the music, and rolling can be a lot of fun, when you get the right ones. Also, there always seem to be that “unicorn” tube that just sounds killer in a particular amp, and once you find it, the heavens open up and it’s pure bliss.
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I grabbed the Philco branded one. We’ll see. If it’s not clearly better, it will go onsale here at half price.
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Hey there! No Audio hum I have heard yet with the two.
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Wonderful! I’m glad to hear that. Thanks for checking. Well, my LYR3 order has been shipped. There’s no turning back now but your confirmation is much appreciated kind sir. I’m still searching for the Westinghouse 6SN7 /w “D” getter that measured less than 10% between triodes. I think you bought the last one from Vivatubes. The rest are at low 10% or above 
but I’ll keep looking till the next one available 
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I am sure another one will pop up!!! I have been looking on EBay off and on today for other tubes too. Honestly I am really happy with the sound so far from the tube it came with so if this one improves it more I am going to be excited.
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So, for those looking for a Sylvania 6SN7GT “Bad Boy”.
One important thing to note, this tube has 3 holes in the plate, and only 3 holes. This was a special tube only made for a few years, that was discovered by a tube roller, who noticed how unique and special they sounded compared to other Sylvania 6SN7GT tubes, so he named them “Bad Boys”, and the name stuck.
Here are the descriptors.
The real “Bad Boy”, is on the left below.
Bad Boys
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Thanks @Wes_S for the pointer to those “real” used bad boys on Ebay. The Philco rebranded one arrived today. Sorry, for the rest of you, no, it’s not going on sale here for half price. It is audibly more open than either the original TungSol that came with my Lyr3, or the RCA 5692 Red Base that I have been using. I have not listened long, nor do expect to get rid of the RCA, which was NOS.
It’s interesting to compare the construction of the three tubes. The RCA is clearly more shielded, and in an electrically noisy environment, I would not be surprised if it came out on top. The Philco/Sylvania and the TungSol are both taller, and have more slender construction. The glass on the Philco/Sylvania appears to be clearer and more delicate.
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Nice! If I remember correctly you paid a good price for that listing as well. How’s the bass slam and mids on the “Bad Boy” compared to your NOS RCA?
Just received my LYR3 today but the my Bad Boy won’t be here till next month. I’m pretty excited to test it out. @Wes_S is super helpful and patient in helping me choosing the correct tube. Thanks to him as well.
I’ve been listening to the Solti/Chicago Symphony doing Beethoven’s 6th (Pastorale), a favorite piece of mine. Streamed on Tidal; I don’t have the Lyr3 in the chain with the vinyl. Listening with HD-6xx, and using the xDSD for the DAC in line out mode. The mids are lovely, and I think the strings sound more like they do in a live orchestra. I was going to go to Mahler’s 8th and perhaps that will give me some more ideas.
Have not yet listened to Santana - Africa Speaks, which is what I like to listen to percussion, and which also has decent bass. The differences among tubes with the Lyr3 is subtle, but it does exist. I won’t be able to answer your question until I’ve had a few hours to listen to a variety of music, and compare on my three most used headphones - The Senn HD-6xx, the Hifiman HE-560, and the Grado RS1e.
Note that none of the tubes I’ve tried are bad, the stock TungSol upgrade tube from Schiit, the RCA, and now this Philco/Sylvania (price was $75, I figured there is less cachet in a tube labeled Philco).
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I understand. I think I’m just being impatient and too curious about the RCA red base. I’ve heard a lot of good things about it but I really should taking my time to deal with what’s coming. Thanks and happy listening! 
One important note about tubes, is they need a good 20 to 30 hours of run time to sound their best. Glad you are liking that Bad Boy, @pennstac!
This tube was used, not NOS, like the RCA or new like the TungSol. I did give the others plenty of run time. While I realize your comment was not specific to me, I do remember when transistor radios were a “thing” and proudly proclaimed just how many transistors they had!
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