Sfstero,
Aside from my general preference to buy used gear rather than new for financial reasons, you raise another reason to buy used -- used gears avoids long break-in times. The "used" new Ref-5 that I recently picked up on A'gon had about 1100 hours on it. Just broken-in, yeah!!
As I said in my preceding post, I wouldn't drop any money on a tube amp unless you road tested it first. Having a chat with your friend about tubes amps is a good idea.
As a general matter, pre-amps/line stages and other source tube based inputs (e.g., CDP and phono stage)don't require a lot of care and feeding. The tubes last a long time, except that in ARC gear, the power supply may use a power tube (e.g., 6550C or 5881) which may need to be replaced every 2000 hours. Some of the hybrid gear does not use a power tube in the power supply -- it's solid state.
IME, tube power amps, at least my tube amp, requires a little more attention, e.g., power tube (KT-120, 6550C etc) replacement every 2000 hours and bias adjustment. Some tube amps have automatic bias capabilities - my ARC does not. Of course there's always the occassional pesky bias tube resister that could blow if a tube arcs (i.e., goes bad). Fortunately, there's an ARC authorized service tech who lives near me and makes house calls. Very sweet. Frankly, I enjoy fiddling with my amp. I find it relaxing and interesting.
Well . . . good luck again.
Aside from my general preference to buy used gear rather than new for financial reasons, you raise another reason to buy used -- used gears avoids long break-in times. The "used" new Ref-5 that I recently picked up on A'gon had about 1100 hours on it. Just broken-in, yeah!!
As I said in my preceding post, I wouldn't drop any money on a tube amp unless you road tested it first. Having a chat with your friend about tubes amps is a good idea.
As a general matter, pre-amps/line stages and other source tube based inputs (e.g., CDP and phono stage)don't require a lot of care and feeding. The tubes last a long time, except that in ARC gear, the power supply may use a power tube (e.g., 6550C or 5881) which may need to be replaced every 2000 hours. Some of the hybrid gear does not use a power tube in the power supply -- it's solid state.
IME, tube power amps, at least my tube amp, requires a little more attention, e.g., power tube (KT-120, 6550C etc) replacement every 2000 hours and bias adjustment. Some tube amps have automatic bias capabilities - my ARC does not. Of course there's always the occassional pesky bias tube resister that could blow if a tube arcs (i.e., goes bad). Fortunately, there's an ARC authorized service tech who lives near me and makes house calls. Very sweet. Frankly, I enjoy fiddling with my amp. I find it relaxing and interesting.
Well . . . good luck again.