Indeed yes an unused tube requires some use to get the emmiting plates boiling off electrons in a steady equilibrium while the recieving plates acquire a coating of of oxidation. The filment wire burns in etc.
That said, let me warn you that totally black silence with tubes is a rare commodity indeed. If you press your ear to the speaker almost any tube will yeild a slight hiss. It should not be pronounced and will not get better with use. In fact hiss is more often associated with aging tubes (not old as in old stock, but with usage). If you really want total silence you will have to forgoe the splendor of tubed equipment, and return to solid state.
Being a tubophile myself, I highly prefer the glorious dimensionality (a neologism?), transparency and tone my tube preamps AND tube amps give me. I simply ignore this shortcoming and choose the quieter tubes I have.
Hiss is frequently tube related Hum rarely. Iwould suspect some other element for hum problems. For instance the well known ground loop.
A very good alternative is the opposite of the common belief that a tube pre and solid state power amps yield the essential tube amp sound. Use a totally solid state preamp of course the best being the one you like and can afford and then buy tube power amps. Alternatively an all tube integrated, which I'm heading toward BTW will be just as good in many cases. That way you will really hear how good tubes are, at least to some of us. Don't even use a hybrid pre in this manner it must be a good entirely solid state unit. I am not kidding. This phenomena is well described by my old buddy and respected audiogon member TRELJA on his website. I don't know if the Audiogon censors will allow my to tell you what the site is so e-mail me on the side.
My Mono bloc tube power amps are great BTW, but I had a once in a blue moon opportunity, to aquire a truly special integrated. There is a current review of these puppies on 6 Six Moons, Opera audio/Consonance Cyber 800 mono block amps. I may well keep these. I like them that much. The integrated is a Jadis DA-60, which, it seems is being replaced by the DA-88s. These amps are mucho dinero, approx. $10-12K+ new and rarely come up for sale used. I assume, knowing the amp fairly well, that it is because, the owners hold on to them.
Note: Consider the fact that, I am/was an old friend to the current importer/distributor of Opera Audio of North America.
BTW, I had 2 tube rolling topics deleted. For reasons that elude me they think the topic is inherently contentious and will result in a flamethrower contest. Honestly I don't see why this topic, which some people, may have strong opions about, is any different than any other post that makes it???? I will try again, last time they said I have to mention a specific piece of gear. Why? I don't know.
That said, let me warn you that totally black silence with tubes is a rare commodity indeed. If you press your ear to the speaker almost any tube will yeild a slight hiss. It should not be pronounced and will not get better with use. In fact hiss is more often associated with aging tubes (not old as in old stock, but with usage). If you really want total silence you will have to forgoe the splendor of tubed equipment, and return to solid state.
Being a tubophile myself, I highly prefer the glorious dimensionality (a neologism?), transparency and tone my tube preamps AND tube amps give me. I simply ignore this shortcoming and choose the quieter tubes I have.
Hiss is frequently tube related Hum rarely. Iwould suspect some other element for hum problems. For instance the well known ground loop.
A very good alternative is the opposite of the common belief that a tube pre and solid state power amps yield the essential tube amp sound. Use a totally solid state preamp of course the best being the one you like and can afford and then buy tube power amps. Alternatively an all tube integrated, which I'm heading toward BTW will be just as good in many cases. That way you will really hear how good tubes are, at least to some of us. Don't even use a hybrid pre in this manner it must be a good entirely solid state unit. I am not kidding. This phenomena is well described by my old buddy and respected audiogon member TRELJA on his website. I don't know if the Audiogon censors will allow my to tell you what the site is so e-mail me on the side.
My Mono bloc tube power amps are great BTW, but I had a once in a blue moon opportunity, to aquire a truly special integrated. There is a current review of these puppies on 6 Six Moons, Opera audio/Consonance Cyber 800 mono block amps. I may well keep these. I like them that much. The integrated is a Jadis DA-60, which, it seems is being replaced by the DA-88s. These amps are mucho dinero, approx. $10-12K+ new and rarely come up for sale used. I assume, knowing the amp fairly well, that it is because, the owners hold on to them.
Note: Consider the fact that, I am/was an old friend to the current importer/distributor of Opera Audio of North America.
BTW, I had 2 tube rolling topics deleted. For reasons that elude me they think the topic is inherently contentious and will result in a flamethrower contest. Honestly I don't see why this topic, which some people, may have strong opions about, is any different than any other post that makes it???? I will try again, last time they said I have to mention a specific piece of gear. Why? I don't know.