KT 150 failure


I bought a set of 150’s early this year for my Primaluna Dialogue Premium.  I’ve always run Gold Lion KT 66’s with no problems. Last week, during silence between songs, I heard this soft fluttering sound thru the woofer.  Cornwall’s.  The slightest tapping of the floor in front of the speaker produced the sound.  I went to the amp which is @6 feet away, and all looked fine- no red tube fail lights.  But the lightest touch to the far left tube really made the woofer flutter.  No red plate, static or popping.  After cool down and restart, tube is quiet until it warms up, then same situation.  Pulled them all and replaced with KT66’s.  All good now.  But I have a geeky question.  What happened with that tube?  In Dynaco Days, I had more dramatic failures.  It’s a fail, but what failed?  Thanks in advance for satisfying my curiosity.  

george53

Right, a microphonic tube. If there's a warranty you should contact the dealer.

Assumed it was finished, but you’ve answered my question.  Thanks. 
Previous failed tubes were never this subdued.   

One of my amps uses KT150s. Terrible reliability; three of the four have failed in the first 250 hours. One for vacuum loss, the other two flashes, loud pops and dead. One of those took out the fuse. Fortunately no speaker damage.

I spoke to the amp manufacturer and he confirmed that others were having the same problem. Very good sounding in a well designed amp but terrible quality, the worst I’ve seen in new production output tubes.