Bloodlemons-  Great info even for a STR-104er.  Interesting you like the smaller tubes that can be used in the STR-104.  You got me very curious how the STR-1002 compares in SQ to the STR-104 using the same set of tubes.  I still keep wondering if I made a mistake and should have purchased the 1002 even though I am extremely happy with my 104.  Maybe you could compare them using the same 5v tubes when the 104 arrives if it's not  too much of a hassle.

The 866a are my favorites paired with other tubes  or together but I do like running  2-3B28’s in an adapter with 1 300b.

Other combo’s that I like are: 1 Type 83 and 1 300b, 2-3B22 and 1 type 83, 2-3B22 and 1 300b, 2- 3B22 (stock set)

I haven’t really found that any of my regular 5 volt rectifiers sound  as good as the above combos. I seem to prefer the Mercury and Xeon gas tubes and 300b so far.  Time will tell with more hours of use.  Fun tinker toy!

So this morning I listened again to the 845/211 combo, now with 100+ hours and it continues to improve. Then I put the 805As back in for the first time since my initial listening, and they win. Just a bigger, better and overall nicer sound. And it seems like after a week of almost continuous use some of the extra warmth has cooked out of the STR so they actually sound even better than I remember. I think I'm done rolling for a while and am just going to enjoy the 805As.