Thanks for that, @larryi ; I was not aware. I had read some stuff on bias before that had me confused. However, my amp is biased using mA and I do run it a bit low. |
Some amps are designed to drive tubes hard, some will drive tues so gently that they last forever. Generally I have owned amps by designers who don't run tubes hard and I've had very few tubes fail. I've been running 80 and 100 year old tubes lately and still haven't had one fail. I often have my amp on most every hour I'm home. I use it for music and also for powering the front speakers during TV/movies. If you're having tube failures, I'd look at my amp design. Jerry |
I make my tubes last longer by turning my second system on. I'm fortunate to have a solid state system that I use 75 % of the time. I have always been told turning amps on for short periods then off is bad for tubes. I do bias right at or a little shy of amp mfg specs. I don't think it's good to under bias either so if it says 53 ma that's where I usually put it. I use this https://www.vhtamp.com/avtttt2 Great way to know where you are at. For me my best bet is to buy matched quads or pairs depending on application from a trusted seller. I seem to have much better luck and durability Some tubes just last long , some don't. I have a quad of Gold Lion KT88 that I keep as a spare. They have a ridiculous amount of hours. They look nasty, getter is fading , silkscreen is gone. They test strong still, not far from min new and still sound good. On the other hand I had a quad of new Mullard el34. Did not have then matched / tested and within a month I had one burn up. So to answer the question, not much you can do but enjoy and not leave em powered up when you're not listening |
