TUBE BIAS, socket to me!

Soko, Read what I wrote.  Elliot's Cayin amplifier is the only tube amplifier I ever heard of where the manufacturer actually invites the user to enter inside the chassis, under any circumstances, let alone when powered up.  All other (US-made) tube amplifiers I know about will usually carry a warning NOT to open the chassis, ever.  Usually the warranty is voided if one does that.  Typical tube amplifiers can be re-biased externally with no risk, or not at all if they incorporate an autobias circuit.  Got that?
It so happens I am a DIYer, so I often do work on my amplifiers and preamplifiers, usually for fun and to satisfy my interest in electronics.  But I didn't even try to do that until I had a solid knowledge base, in part to keep me safe.

Gotcha @lewm. So what user involvement would be involved with normal routine maintenance/upkeep of tube equipment of 2000 vintage or later? Testing, rolling, cleaning, biasing, replacing, etc.

For analogue, I have to get a new stylus (or cartridge) every 2-2500 hours of use.Maybe change a belt after 10 years. I’m not aware of direct drive tables needing anything.

vegasears1,073 posts01-10-2021 2:01pm
not Auto Biasing so I feel your pain!

Not feeling pain is what this is all about!!!

If one wants to roll tubes, one can do so, but that is not a requirement.  To me, it is a form  of mental masturbation.  Bias adjustment would be per the suggestion of the manufacturer.  Some designs run the tubes harder than other designs (closer to their maxima for voltage and current).  Such designs would benefit from bias adjustment at more frequent intervals compared to designs that run the tubes conservatively, because the tubes are wearing out faster in the former case.  How often to replace tubes is also design-dependent.  Vinyl is much more demanding than using a tube amplifier, on a day to day basis, IMO.

Thanks @lewm. You didn't mention about tube testing - how often? I did think tube rolling was kind of just fooling/playing around, especially with newer tube amps.

Day to day, of course, brushing the records and getting up to flip them every 20 minutes (or 10 with 45's) and handling the records (dealing with the sleeves, jackets and external sleeves and filing and removing them) is more time consuming than CDs, let alone streaming, but at this point, it is kind of a ritual.

Do all tubes heat up the room, or is that a design function as well, the harder they run?

Lastly, I have a SS phono stage. Does this reduce the potential benefit of an integrated tube amp? I got this about 9 months ago as before I used one in my integrated that was only adjustable between MM and MC with no variation on load or gain.I never knew how much better my system would sound with a dedicated phono stage versus the one that came with my amp.

When I bought it, the cost of tube phono stages was substantially higher than SS ones, and I was told the lower cost tube ones were "noisy". Is this the case with integrated amps as well?

Just doing some longer term planning/thinking.

Thanks for your opinion.