Replace tubes yearly?
I just watched a Paul McGowan video (PS Audio) about the wisdom of leaving your gear powered on all the time. I get that. He also said that vacuum tube gear is the exception and not to leave it on all the time. I get that too.
But he also mentioned that it didn’t make a huge difference since you probably should replace your tubes every year.
Is that true? I have an Audio Research LS-16 tube preamp from the late 90s or early 2000s. I don’t think the tubes have ever been changed. I’m not really a ’tube’ guy but this unit was given to me 6 or 8 years ago. As far as I know these tubes are original.
At one point I got curious about the different sound quality potential of different tubes and another Audiogon member lent me a set of tubes to try out. I could definitely tell a difference but did not think the new ones sounded better than the original ones. I mention this because at that time the original tubes were quite old and still sounded quite good. And still do.
So, bottom line is, is there any real need to replace tubes on a schedule of some sort. Maybe its different if it is an amp versus a pre-amp?
Never keep tube gear powered up. It's a waste of electricity and dangerous. Ever see a KT88 go nuclear red plate with arcing and flashing and sparking? It's scary. I've had good luck with tubes over the past 25 years that I've been using them. I try to be proactive about tube replacement. If a tube is noisy or doesn't hold its bias i replace. But every year ? No way.
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Thanks guys. @oberoniaomnia If tube rolling just means trying different tubes I did that once. As mentioned, even with my not-so-golden ears there was a distinct difference in the sound. But I was very hard pressed to say that I liked one better than the other and was not compelled to buy the loaner tubes. So my tube rolling days are probably over. ;-) But, the idea of a back up set certainly has its merits. @yogiboy and @noromance and @antigrunge2 I like watching Paul's videos and have learned a lot from them but I sometimes disagree about some of the things he says or find them not to be significant when I put them into practice. But who am I to question? @bigtwin I do not leave my gear powered up. The tube pre-amp has a 45 second soft start and the amp has like a 10 second soft start. The amp also makes a fair amount of heat even when not in use. I don't need that in the summer here in the south. And while I am not an environmentalist by any stretch, I am of Scottish descent (tight wad) and am a conservative (in the environmental sense) so I hate wasting electricity or environmental resources for no good reason. Having said that I do have a Sonos Amp that stays powered up. |
