Thanks for the comments (so far). I can't tell you how much I'm enjoying my McIntosh MA252 with the Maggie 1.7s.
Tube life
Hey guys/gals, happy Labor Day weekend! Newbie here. I recently purchased my first piece of tube gear (the McIntosh hybrid integrated). I’m loving it, even with my power hungry Maggies. Anyway, will I notice a marked degradation in sound as the tubes age? Or is it a gradual glide path to less-than-Nirvana sound? Thanks for your comments! Any suggestions on tubes other than stock?
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Likely gradual unless a tube starts going bad. You will know when that happens. Most hybrid amps have tubes in the input (which last a long time) and solid state outputs. Check out Brent Jesse or Upscale Audio for tube options. I would wait a while before jumping into other tubes, so you can establish a baseline that would make it easier to identify the characteristics of the other tubes. |
Darn millercarbon , you can't say stuff I agree with. It is not fair:) Nor is it easy. What I mean is, tubes vary so much from brand to brand and even tube to tube its very hard to say anything meaningful about them without someone else being able to say something completely different- and both of you be right! I mean, I used to think tubes were really reliable as maybe only one of probably 30 or 40 had ever really failed on me. Then in short order I had two flare out quite dramatically- and one of them was brand new! There really is hardly any difference between tubes, not only between brands but even between certain types. KT88 is better to me than 6550C but not by much. JJ is better than Svetlana but by even less. But I'm comparing relative to something like a $150 Quantum Fuse or $60 set of BDR Cones or even something like running a demagnetizing track through your system. Those range from 3 to 10 times more important than the difference between tubes, which to me makes buying a new set when you already have a set a waste of money. But another guy might think a barely noticeable improvement for $500 is the moon and the stars. So both can be right and it is darn hard to say without being set up either way to get skewered. So good to know. Thanks. |
@ jrod68 OP Any suggestions on tubes other than stock? https://www.audioasylum.com/scripts/d.pl?audio/faq/joes-tubes.html http://www.audiotubes.com/12at7.htm http://www.audiotubes.com/12ax7.htm |
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