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Best Way To Maximize Preamp Tube Life?

I would love to learn how to best maximize tube life. Tubes have a limited lifespan, of course. So when you're not listening for a time, is it best to shut everything off to preserve the "hours" left on the tube's life? OR does the act of powering off/on itself shorten tube length as well? If so, by how much? Something like "powering off/on costs 3 hrs of tube life, so taking a music break of less than 3 hours, better to just leave it powered on." Or 1 hr, or 10 minutes, 6 hours, etc? Where is the tradeoff point?

In my system FYI, I am running a Don Sachs preamp with 4 6SN7s and 1 6BY5 rectifier.  Don says the preamp is only running the tubes at 40% of their rating. I would greatly appreciate some input from people with tube knowledge. Thanks in advance!
sid-hoff-frenchman
jjss49's avatar
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jjss49
6,612 posts
 
@sid-hoff-frenchman
I want to maintain it as long as possible. With tube shortages currently in all directions, including the Northern Electric 6SN7s I am running, I want to squeeze every bit of sonic joy from these tubes as possible.


don’t worry too much about 6sn7 supply, old stocks are plentiful, not terribly expensive and new production is quite good too
invalid
1,185 posts
 
I leave my tube preamp on 24/7 because I have a class A solid state amp that takes a long time to sound it's best.

ebm
9,311 posts
 
Power up when listening  power down when through.Depends on the tube and voltage of preamp how long they will last. Amperex is great tube jump on some today.
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yogiboy
5,656 posts
 
I have vintage radios that are over 80 years old. The tubes are original and they all work fine.  Those small signal tubes last for ages!
mesch
3,476 posts
 
I also run a class A amp (Pass XA25) with a tube preamp. I have a dedicated room and music listening is a session. When I anticipate a session coming on I turn on the amp. It can cook throughout the day if needed. When time for the session I turn it off, wait a minute for the signal path to discharge, then turn preamp on, wait a minute for it to charge, then turn amp back on. The tube pre dos not take long be at capacity. Possibly too much trouble for some.

When session is spontaneous it turn equipment on in proper order and enjoy, the XA25 catches up. 
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