First Tube Amp: Advice? Keep spare tubes on hand?

If you like the amp, and it works well with the rest of your system...you will end up with spare tubes over the course of things :-)......thats just the way it works out.

Enjoy,

Dave

Richard,
If the amp is new the tubes should last many thousands of hours....do not leave the amp on 24/7 but leave it on the day you listen and turn off when done for the day...try to avoid, on-off, on-off on days you listen...tubes are like light bulbs and on-off can stress them. I would not buy any extra tubes right now. Wait till you get used to the sound and then experiment with tube rolling to change the sound of the amp....not every tube in the design has a sonic effect on a change...you have to know which ones will make an impact. BTW what is the amp?

Don't start rolling tubes until you have given it enough time to really hear the sound with the tubes the designer intended. Only then will you have a realistic baseline for comparison if/when you try others.

If you are getting it used, make sure you know what tubes are being provided and whether these are standard design issue or custom tubes that a prior user rolled.