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People who are Irrationally Afraid of tube amps

Recently I've had a tube amp For Sale on this site. It's a well respected, great amp from a major mfg. I've owned it for 3 years, with absolutely no problems, only enjoyment. I'm only selling it because I sold the speakers I used it with, & my current speakers are a lot more power-hungry. And it's the 2nd tube amp I've owned, my first being a really early model VTL ST-85 that was several years old when I bought it, then I had it for 5 years, & the only problem I had in all that time was replacing a fuse once. And I know almost nothing about electronics, but I learned how to use a multi-meter & successfully biased & replaced tubes in both amps.

Here's the thing: Almost every person who has written to me about my amp for sale asks a zillion questions, you know the routine, e-mails back & forth, then finally says they are too freaked out at the possibility of replacing tubes someday to buy it, whining about the (relatively modest) expense, etc. (And my amp has new tubes!!). Now, these queries are from presumably experienced A'goners because most of them have a large no. of positive feedback ratings here. I mean, we're not dealing with the average shopper at Circuit City, presumably.

My questions are: 1. Why do experienced A'goners waste so much time shopping for tube gear if they're freaked out over the potential traumatic effect that replacing tubes may have on them someday? There's plenty of SS gear FS if that's what they want. 2. Why do many even relatively experienced audiophiles still believe in the "tube hassles" myth? 3. Are there no tube afficiandos who are willing to put up with a minor inconvience every few years?

I feel like putting a warning in the next ad I run for a tube amp: WARNING: THIS DEVICE CONTAINS HIGHLY VOLATILE "TUBES", WHICH MAY BLOW AT ANY SECOND & COULD DESTROY YOUR ENTIRE NEIGHBORHOOD! USE AT YOUR OWN PERIL, PREFERABLY IN A NON-POPULATED AREA. EVEN IF THEY DON'T KILL YOU, THE TRAUMA OF REPLACING THE "TUBES" SOMEDAY COULD REQUIRE YEARS OF PSYCHOTHERAPY, & MAY BANKRUPT YOU & YOUR ENTIRE FAMILY.

Well, at least that might discourage the "tire kickers". Now, if I could just afford those Cary 805C mono-blocs I've been wanting for years........& thanks for listening to my rant!
steveaudio
tubegroover
2,320 posts
 
"What's the point of this amp if you can't use the low feedback configuration".

Elhartford my guess is that the low feedback setting may be problematic with the load of the Maggies, don't know for sure. The point of the amp is its flexibility into low impedance loads and the reason for the 3 settings. Most tube amps measure lousy compared to SS anyway and you seem to be hung up on the distortion measurements of the amp without the benefits it offers over conventional OTL's and transformer coupled amps which is its ability to operate into lower impedance loads as well as better bass definition, Into an 8 ohm load it measures almost to DC which is impressive in itself for a tube amp. I Hope to hear it someday driving the Maggies, I too am quite curious.

Allan Bhagan, a dealer for the Berning has a prototype pair running directly into the stators (no transformer on the speakers) of a pair of SoundLab M-3's which are more inefficient than the M-1's, maybe he can chime in?

I agree Sean, the Pass Labs amps are very nice. It seems Nelson Pass has a knack for designing amps that offer many of the better characteristics of tubes.
kevziek
323 posts
 
I have never heard what Eldartford claims--that because of the high voltages run in tube amps, the capacitors and other components have a shorter life span. Anyone care to comment on this?
sean
6,231 posts
 
Higher voltages are more likely to arc, not only to from a component or point of connection to circuit or chassis ground but also through the dielectric of a cap. On top of this, the high heat levels associated with output tubes can cook capacitors too. All capacitors have a shorter lifespan as temperature rises. Most caps will be rated for XXXX amount of hours at a specific temperature. Dropping below that tempurate extends their lifespan and going above that shortens the lifespan. Sean
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eldartford
4,262 posts
 
Tubegroover...A slight correction..I am not "hung up" about high distortion as you might note from my remark:

"I know that distortion specs are not the whole story, but when THD gets over 1 percent it becomes a big obstacle to overcome by other virtues".

I think that this comment is pretty reasonable.

Regarding degradation of electronic components in tube power amps...back when I was involved with repairing/tweeking these things it was "standard operating procedure" to go through and replace all the interstage coupling capacitors every time you worked on it. I never asked why, but such customs are usually based on experience.

I just observed another thread where MacIntosh amp characteristics, considered good, were attributed to use of output transformers (even though the circuit is solid state). And here we have ingenious circuitry designed to avoid the use of a transformer in a tube circuit. Go figure!!
allanbhaganinfo
121 posts
 
And the beat goes on........ and on and on
There are "Tube amps" and then there are amps that use tubes, I am not sure if they are the same and I am not sure if the Berning falls into either catagory, so I can fully understand the confusion.

I don't think it's irrational to be afraid of "some" tube amps or is it amps that use tubes??
Either is it irrational to be afraid of "some" SS amps, in the eyes of God we are all created equal but I'm afraid that's where e-quality ends :)

The Berning sounds remarkable on maggies.
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