I’ve been into tubes for nearly 35 years and never felt the need. Sputter, as you described it occurs frequently and I believe caused by pin/socket connections, not bad tubes. I check my tubes and just wiggle the tubes a bit and it usually goes away. FWIW.
Anyone Here Ever Purchased A Tube Tester?
Once or twice a day a tube sputters for a brief second in my Audio Research Reference DAC. The Reference DAC is connected directly to my amplifier and it also serves as my preamp. Visually, all of the tubes look fine. Visually, I can’t tell which tube may be bad.
The tubes are: (4) 6H30, plus (1) 6550C and (1) 6H30 in power supply
Have any of you ever purchased a tube tester to test your tubes? If so, what tube tester are you using?