VTTC Multi-tube oscillator?

["Tesla list" <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>]

Original poster: "by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>" <Mddeming-at-aol-dot-com>

Hi All toobers (tubers - Tesla potatoes???);-))

1)      I recently acquired five (5) "slightly-used" 833As and a Chinese FU-33
look-alike, with a possibility of three more coming, and four 575As for
rectification of plate supply.  I am looking at the possibilities of a large
VTTC. This will be my first VTTC since the tiny 6L6 -based coil I built in the
1960s. One possibility is to strap a bunch of the 833s in parallel, but if I
remember correctly, load-balancing in many parallel tubes is worse than tuning
up a 1950s V12 Jaguar. Another possibility is to make a small oscillator and a
monster amplifier, but I'm not sure if this isn't just complicating the
circuitry and leaving the same problems. 
2) Not having a "steroid-powered" tube tester, is there any way to check the
tubes before building the VTTC and trying them? If not, has anyone got a
serious tester schematic?
3) Sell all the tubes to someone on the list and buy one much bigger tube?
Thanks,
Matt D.