What is the approx life of a power tube? And, how can one tell if a tube is failing? Do they gradually lose their sharpness and sensitivity or do they go out like a light bulb -- or both? JNorth
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The sound changes quite a bit as a tube gets older. It's not quite like a light bulb. You would probably notice it and change it before the tube ever actually fails completely. As for life span I think its sort of random..... I think its a good while though. Depending on use I would say you could go on a set of tubes for maybe a year? Preamps its a lot better you don't have to change those very often at all. -
Tubes have different "modes" of failure. They can wear out gradually and lose sound quality/clarity. They could start getting scratchy/staticky sounding. Or (rarely), a filament can burn out and the the tube goes dead like a light bulb.
How long they last depends on how hard they're driven. Preamp tubes tend to last longer than power tubes.Comment
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i have a tube preamp and i was not aware that tube sq degrades over time. that might explain why the telefunken i bought a while ago weren't that immediately impressive when i first installed them. it was only marginally better than sylvanias that it replaced.Comment
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As the others have said...input and driver tubes last upwards of 10,000hrs. Whereas Output/power tubes usually a Quarter to a Third of that, alot depends how "Hot" they are being run (level of bias).Dave
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Yeah and tubes do have a breakin time as well so when you first buy them they don't sound as good as after you put a few hours on them.Comment
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+/-1.5 - 2years if you listen about 5hours/week.....loud!!Originally posted by Jnorth1178
When one of my power tubes went or started fading I noticed that the one side (left e.g) was softer than the other.....swapping the tubes made the other side softer (e.g right) and also, I noticed it first with my imaging, then it sounded as if my tweeters were damaged....or blown...hope that helpsOriginally posted by Jnorth1178Regards :T,
Boom....a.k.a...."The Box"Comment
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Ok, here's my attempt at a review of my recently-upgraded "Cubicle Audio System", featuring the ASL MG Head OTL tube headphone amp, especially designed to fill my head with great sounding music while I slave away at my PC at work!
Before I get into the details of my new gear,... -
I have had a sanyo z2 for about 9 months and tonight the pj just switched off for no reason or warning, so i dont know if the bulb blew or not.
the fan stayed on as if i had just switched it off (but i didnt) and the red standy light is on as i type (am going to wait till fully cooled... -
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I'm interested in getting a tube amp and was hoping someone here may have listened to a couple of the amps I'm considering. I basically got interested when I read some rave reviews about the great value of the Miniwatt S1, which has since been superseded by the N3.
As... -
I've got a problem that hopefully someone can help me shed some light on.
I have an NEC HT1000 that's worked flawlessly for a few years now, with less than 400 hours on the lamp (it sat in storage for a while). I pulled it out of storage, and it wouldn't fire the lamp. I pulled the lamp,... -
I am running a Modified Jolida 302BWith Tung Sol EL34B power tubes
Roughly 2 months ago I heard a loud pop through my speakers. I didn't see the tube blow but when I checked it, it was blown. I ordered 2 pairs of new power tubes for my amp. I only replaced the side that needed replacing...
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