Replace tubes yearly?

@thecarpathian Thanks. That was Hudson Shepherd, a service dog I had for nearly 6 years having rescued him from a local (DC) shelter a 18 months. It’s been a year since I had to put him down due to canine myelodysplasia - like ALS, Lou Gehrig’s disease. He helped me get over some PTSD. Loved kids. Never could eat a whole one though.

@silverfoxvtx1800 I liked those so much I bought a second set from another seller.They test well (I own a TV-7 D/U tester) and sound as good but I believe you said “warmth.” There’s just SOMEthing about the airy/soundstage from the lower gain (mu=20 max) tubes I prefer and I own a handful of matched pairs that just do it for me and my system.

Off-topic here but some good reading:

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/6sn7gt-6f8g-an-exploration-of-wwii-era-octal-tubes.890205/

I turn my tube preamp off after use.  If you are really concerned just get the tubes tested.

@normb 

thats a excellent tube read Norm thanks…

If you use tubes that will eventually need replacement, get a complete set of replacement tubes.  You can "test" the old tubes by swapping in tubes from the reserved set; if the sound improves enough so you are willing to replace the old ones, you already have the replacement(s).  This subjective testing is probably more meaningful than most measurements on a tester.  

Remember: all old and worn out tubes can be sold on eBay (just kidding, throw them away).

I agree that the answer is no, but as a tube enthusiast, I always have back up tubes and periodically switch out tubes to compare the old with the new to make sure everything is in top order. This takes organization and good notes to keep straight.

My audio research vm-220 has 12 tubes (8 x 6550) per mono block, but still sound glorious when manually biased. Pre-covid it was $1600 to replace all my 6550s (16 or matched octet) by audio research. Only had to do this once in 20 years. But with the California heat, I have now switched over the Aesthetix amps (I bi-amp Atlas monos & stereo amps in my small room and only need to consider one power tube per channel. Much simpler and a lot less heat while enjoying the sound year round.

For those interested in learning more: The www.audiophilefoundation.org recently had a zoom discussion on tube testing with a known expert and offered best practices. Which tube tester and which areas to check to look for with tubes make a a big difference. Members can go to the website and look at past events to watch the zoom (cost is $30 annually gets you lots of other benefits too).