I’d save the money. The better spec stuff is better but I don’t care. I don’t care about the absolute darkest of darks (which nothing works well in). I’m not on a two way range so having a light changes nothing for me other than another item to take with me. So I’d save 3k, buy a great light, and pocket the difference. You look at those TNVC pics and literally anything will look good in those settings. It’s a bright environment. If you need the best ultra low light performance and can’t use a light, then save the money up and buy the better tubes. If you can either use a light or don’t need absolute lowest light elite performance, the money is never going to be worth it.
If you’re a hunter, I’d never spend the extra. If your life depends on it and bullets may come back at you, I’d always save and buy the best. If you’re just out for fun, again I’d never spend the difference. Since you’re asking I’m going to assume the price difference matters. Those echo tubes will do 98% of what the better spec tubes will do and for all but the most extreme it won’t matter. If you fall in that extreme, then buy accordingly.
The echo tube duals are a budget option. Not a top tier priced option. TNVC’s budget version (from sister store nightgoggles) uses gen 2 tubes with much lower spec. They don’t want to compare budget for budget, they want to compare the performance of their best against budget. And that’s not realistic.
Lowdown is a class act. I’ve never seen him lose his shit in these forums or blow up on a customer. He’s always made things right if something goes wrong, which rarely does. Some others, well they use some used car salesman tactics, hype/lie about what they stock, and have no problem trashing customers or competitors they don’t like, publicly. I’d be cautious who I spent my money with. A quick forum search can show the many temper tantrums that come from some vet owned “all mighty” this forum rides so hard.