2000 hrs use recommendation is conservative by audio research
you can extend a good 20-25% past that if you are careful don’t listen loud or have had to drive speakers
the problem with arc amps of your ref110’s lineage is that there is no tube failure protection, so a failing power tube can (and often does) take out a bias resistor and maybe scorch a little section of the pcb, needing a minor repair
given the size and heft of the amp, even a minor repair becomes a pain for handle and ship
so most play it safe, replace tubes sooner than later, follow their recommendation
you can always monitor how close to being used up your tubes are by how much the bias current needs to be turned up from when they were new, i track that...
you can extend a good 20-25% past that if you are careful don’t listen loud or have had to drive speakers
the problem with arc amps of your ref110’s lineage is that there is no tube failure protection, so a failing power tube can (and often does) take out a bias resistor and maybe scorch a little section of the pcb, needing a minor repair
given the size and heft of the amp, even a minor repair becomes a pain for handle and ship
so most play it safe, replace tubes sooner than later, follow their recommendation
you can always monitor how close to being used up your tubes are by how much the bias current needs to be turned up from when they were new, i track that...