Amp craftmanship/Quality


I'm not so concerned how a  amp/line stage pre amp sounds. 
No not really, MY main concern is how ~~reliable~~ it is.
To me, all tube amps sound pretty close the same.
The most single factor of importance is ~~The Reliablilty Factor~~.
Repairs as you know are expensive, not to forget the suffering involved. = Pure hell. 
I own a  Jadis Defy 7, no repairs running 7k+ hrs,(20+ yr old amp)
Knock on wood.

I had a  Cayin CD17 tube player, 8 yrs useage, no repairs,.
This is what I am talking about.
I want a  amp that will  perform day in, day out, month after month  year after year, decade after decade, with no repairs.
Quality of build is everything in a  amp, Far less imporatance how it sounds. 
How it sounds is not a relaiable factor, as each of us has a  different set of hearing. 
I think most topics here are concerned about sound, and less about The Reliability Factor. 
mozartfan

wolfie62
214 posts
09-11-2021 11:15am
I’m still playing my dads HH Scott tube StereoMaster receiver. Only thing I’ve changed are the tubes. No maintenance since new in 1962.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Some of the old designs were built to last forever.
Dyanco 
Allen Organ amps
I see Macintosh has some votes as extremely reliable.
As someone mentioned, some cities are slim for locating good repair shops.
So this is why I  brought up this topic.
If a  city has only 1 shop, the tech , if not so fair, knows he's the only kid on the  block and can charge whatever he wishes. 
Someone also mentioned tube reliability is extremely important to keep repairs at a  bare minimum. 

Which is why my tech guy, made clear  ,  only buy tubes with very high reputation, and from a  shop that has excellent matching test equipment.
He tends to prefer the russian tubes,  as best selection.
 I note china has new labs , such as Psvane , a  lab  known to reject any tube that does not meet their highest specs.
But for me, having a  12 tube amp, its too pricey.
I have the gut feeling the Defy7, will be such a  relaible amp. This confidence allows me to relax and enjoy the music with no fear of hiss and hum.
The Defy had 20+ yrs, and tech found only 1 issue, the main cable(8 wires)  from power trans to speaker out post, was corroded at 1 solder  connection,  and so we replaced with Navships Silver high tech 12 gague.
Have all new Mundorf caps, and most resistors changed to Takman Rey metal. 



Hello,
My issue with this is some stuff made today is cheaper than it was vs back in the day. I have a friend who has a BAT that has 20 years on it. He just started to have some problems. I have heard it is not good to keep tubes in too long. I have to say if the component stoped working tomorrow that is amazing. Some stuff also got better. If you are going to buy new I would ask for peoples choices of brand and how long they have had it. VTL, BAT. Rogue, Raven, DecWare, and  Cary. What Brands, model, tubes have lasted 5-10 years. I am just worried some companies have figured out where to cut corners. 
I used to love NAD equipment but about a third of the pieces I owned (all purchased new) had to be repaired.

I know I'll probably work up a bunch of blood pressures to say this, but I've enjoyed several McIntosh pieces, not a single one needing repair.  I currently enjoy a McIntosh tube preamp (tubes swapped out for Gold Lion's) and a solid state power amp, which mate well with my speakers.

I have also had really great service from the PS Audio pieces (I have also purchased new).
Also on the subject of tubed gear stuff that's point to point wired using classic circuits is going to tend to last and be very easy to repair/maintain.
Heavy - The 110Z is way more rare than one in a million. My recollection is something like 1,700 Z built.

Mine is from 1965, Modeferi himself went thru it….