GuyDebord;291483 Wrote: > Iphone, how long do your tubes last? I treat my beloved Valvo's E188CC's > from my preamp stage like jewels, If I forget to turn them off one > night, the next day I feel bad....
Off the subject, but they last until they need replaced (which is my personal inside joke). I look at tubes like most people look at gas for their cars in that new tubes are part of the operating expense of my pre-amp and audio hobby. I change them at 70 percent of their rated life or sooner if need be. Most of my tube friends look at it in one of two ways again with a car analogy. They either think their tubes are like a F-150 Ferrari to only be driven on special occasions (read turned on rarely) or treat their tubes like the tires on an old beater changing them only after the cord is showing or one blows. I guess the tubes are being used an average of 12 hours a day doing actual amplification work and the other half of the day at idle (heater voltage). So I am of the opinion that heating them and cooling them everyday would be about the same wear and tear on them as just leaving them on all the time. Besides it saves me from having to wait for them to warm to the sweet spot every morning. -- iPhone iPhone Last.FM http://www.lastfm.com/user/mePhone Media Room: Transporter, Vandersteen Quatro Signature, Ayre MX-R Mono Blocks, VTL TL-6.5 Signature Pre-Amp, VCC-5 Reference Center Channel, four VSM-1 Signatures, Runco 710, RAM Oppo DV970HD, VeraStarr 6.4SE Living Room: SqueezeBox Duet, Vandersteen Model 3A Signature, Two 2Wq subs, VCC-2, Two VSM-1, ADCOM GTP-870HD, Cinepro 3K6SE III Gold Bedroom: Squeezebox 3, Thiel 2.3, NAD C370 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ iPhone's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=13622 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=46295 _______________________________________________ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/audiophiles
