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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
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.
allanbhaganinfo
121 posts
 
Eldartford
Where are you located? The Berning has silenced many a spec-ulator, engineers included, maybe there is a Berning customer near you.
2%THD at full output is remarkable, this is full power output THD, at 60 watts it's probably .05 and probably 3% at 77 watts, I wonder where most SS amps would spec out at 10% over there rated power output.

You need to hear it.

We heard a well respected 500 watt digital amp compared to the Berning, one sounded powerful, clean, dynamic, effortless, open and most important less compressed an distorted, prize for guessing which one it was.

I traveled 2000 miles to hear it at Tubegroover's place, with a very educated engineer from Orlando, who by the way was also sure that the big amp was going to kill the little amp.

Results,... well Tubegroover is more cocky now, ain't he :)
tubegroover
2,320 posts
 
Eldartford

I didn't mean to come across as flip with the remark and yes, I think it is reasonable to be concerned about the distortion measurements but more reasonable to listen to the amp on its own terms without predjudice of how its measurements MIGHT affect its sound. This amp really can't be compared to other tube amps as Allan notes, it is too different in too many ways to really compare, the real surprise may be its performance relative to its poor measurements.
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