Have you changed your mind about a brand? Was it you, or them?

I was reading some of the other posts and just remembered my foray into Tube Gear...

I frequented a store that actively promoted Raysonic - and I "admired" a very nice SP120.

At the time, I was using a Yamaha 5.1 receiver in my audio system, so the Raysonic was a welcome upgrade in tonal quality and LOOKS!.

Ah - the warm glow of those tubes was hard to resist and the polished silver/gold case - it looked the part as well.

Fast forward 6 months and I purchased the first set of replacement tubes.

After SIX MONTHS ? is that all I get out of a set of $400 tubes ?

So I google'd Raysonic - to keep a long story short - I had to have the entire thing reconditioned, to take care of a shortcomings in the transformer and some key design flaws in the circuit design
- ca-ching $300
- AND another set of tubes -$400

Needless to say Raysonic is now OFF my Christmas list

So I went back to solid state.

But - I have come to realize not all tube gear is created equal. :-)

Cheers 

IPA, golden loggers or Mexican brews in the Summer; amber ales or dark loggers when it cools down; Montana brewed Kettle House "Cold Smoke" Scottish Ale, any time.

I agree with mijostyn regarding Krell. Their early model KSAs and KSTs had a problem with caps failing from heat. I had an early model KST that failed after just a few years. When I called customer service to see if I could send it in to get upgraded and repaired (I explained that I wasn't expecting for free, that I just needed it fixed) they said that they were no longer supporting repairs on that model and would not suggest anyplace I could send it for repairs. They did offer to sell me a new one, at full price of course. Done with Krell.

I had a ten year old Bryston power amp, that I sent in to have the switch repaired. It came back a couple of weeks later, with a new switch, a list of upgraded parts, re-biased, cleaned and looking and sounding like new - no charge. 

Loved my mid 80s, British made, Quad ESL 63s. They served me flawlessly for nearly 25 years and I only sold them when work opportunities meant moving into a much smaller living space. When I moved back into a larger home, I considered the new Quads, but stories of their unreliable performance after moving to China, led me away from the Quads and am now most happy to have gone with the Maggies.....Jim 

@ ecpninja

Just discovered this thread/your post re: YBA - a few comments to clarify:

● All YBA products are designed by the founder, Yves-Bernard André, in France
● Yves-Bernard André is Chief Designer
● Yves-Bernard André remains a part of the ownership team
● All production is under YBA's supervision & training
● Depending on series, most/all of the parts are French sourced to Yves-Bernard's specs
● All Signature production is Quality checked/tested by Yves-Bernard André
● Any required servicing by our US Authorized technicians in Austin,TX

Hope that helps...
Jim Ricketts/tmhaudio

Yes no maybe.