2. amps-preamps
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Burn-in and Biasing

I just got a new VTL integrated (IT85) tube amp yesterday. Two questions:

BURNIN:
--Is it OK to leave it on, on a low level, overnight and during the day, running constantly? (Hope so! that's what I'm currently doing, but I can turn it off when I get home if I have to)

BIASING:
--The manual says that only a recommended VTL tech should bias the machine. It seems kind of complicated. The person who does the biasing needs to use some kind of digital multimeter equipped with autoranging feature. I guess I wouldn't mind trying it myself, but I have never done this.

The manual recommends that the amp is biased when it first is setup. What are people's opinion on this? Is biasing something I could do myself, with that meter?

TIA....
dennis_the_menace
marakanetz's avatar
marakanetz
5,473 posts
 
Dennis,
feed the tubes with 300 when they're in triode mode and 275 when they're in penthode.

don't do it too often. once in 400 hours will do.
dennis_the_menace's avatar
dennis_the_menace OP
467 posts
 
How do I know if they are in triode or penthode mode?
marakanetz's avatar
marakanetz
5,473 posts
 
all today's vtl product have that switch for triode or tetrode operation. I assume that 85W/ch is for tetrode(sorry not penthode) operation and you might have a switch to switch it to triode which nearly halves the output power.
in my case(Totem Forest) i always use tetrode.
dennis_the_menace's avatar
dennis_the_menace OP
467 posts
 
i must be using it in tetrode... i didn't see any switch mentioned anywhere in the manual, and haven't found one, but i wasn't really looking either. I'll check it out when i get home... thx
dennis_the_menace's avatar
dennis_the_menace OP
467 posts
 
BTW, Luke Manley emailed me a response today. At least it came from his email address LManley@VTL.com.... answered my questions about the biasing and burn-in, and really took some time to be thorough. i was pretty impressed...
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