TUBE BIAS, socket to me!

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.

The amplifier itself is the best tube-tester.  If a tube fails to bias correctly in situ in the amplifier, it should be replaced.
Unless you want to spend thousands of bucks on a separate tube tester that can actually test power tubes at their typical voltage and current, you don't need a tube tester at all.  This was mentioned earlier.  The vintage tube testers, many of which are collected by strange people who collect tube testers, were generally NOT able to test power tubes at meaningful levels of voltage and current.  Of those vintage testers, Hickok is the brand worth having, because Hickok testers along with only a few other brands can test transconductance.  Testers ARE nice to have around for small signal tubes, used in the front end of amplifiers and in preamplifiers/phono stages. But even that is a bit frivolous.  I do own a Hickok Model 533A, one of the older models probably from the post-WW2 era. I do use it to check transconductance (Gm), which is a sign of the life stage of a tube.  If Gm is below the accepted range for that tube, you can ditch it with a clear conscience. I paid $75 for the 533A.  The grandson of the 533 is the 539, one of the most sought after.  A fully reconditioned 539 in top operating condition will cost you more than $1000, easy.  539s come a little closer to being able to test power tubes properly but not really close enough.  I would bet almost no one here besides me owns any tube tester.  I bought it for my own interest in DIY.

@lewm - what about my other questions?

@lewn,

The statement below was from a positive feedback article about the MX110Z that Elliot was gracious enough to provide us.

"Like me, after living with the MX110Z for a while, you may wonder why all modern preamplifiers don’t include FM tuners and equalization controls—they’re great fun! Also, tell me, is there anything even remotely comparable to the vacuum tubed McIntosh MX110Z currently available today at any price? No, which is a pity."

http://www.positive-feedback.com/Issue77/vintage_mcintosh_experience.htm

@ elliottbnewcombjr,

Talk about a labor of love and patience! You kept the same preamp and kept it working after all these years. The money you've saved and knowledge gained on that unit, from not having that dreaded disease of upgraditis...Bloody brilliant if you ask me. 

As an Architect, whose path went the way commercial interior designer. I'd love to hear some of your stories on acoustics where the materials used were passive and maybe active in a room/hall you designed with the customers acoustic wants in mind. 

tyray

I just bought that used McIntosh mx110z tube tuner/preamp in June 2019, a purchase of love but not a long held piece. I sold my McIntosh SS Preamp C28 and McIntosh SS2250 to switch back to tubes.

I have avoided upgrades fairly well, primarily because I have been lucky to both inherit great stuff and been given some great stuff. I have given a lot of stuff to others as well. Met Bill here last year, we swapped my Fisher 800C receiver for his Mitsubishi Vertical TT, LT-5V which I revived and plays in my office system now.

I designed Corporate Offices, New Headquarters, Relocations, Renovations, for 47 years: NYC, Phila, Wash DC, Chicago, San Fran, Toronto, hired my own consultants, did everything soup to nuts.