Can you do anything to make power tubes last longer ?

I always keep a back up set of the full tube complement for each amp. I’m also checking bias every time I run the units --using a Fluke meter-- after the units have fully warmed up using a digital source for the first 45 minute to an hour. I do run them at exactly the recommended setting which is printed on the top plate, next to each tube socket). I often check them at the end of a listening session, too.

I used to never touch the tubes, using white cotton gloves to avoid any fingerprint oil, but abandoned that practice some years ago.

Lamm recommends replacing the driver tube--a 6N6P--every two years for optimal performance. I don’t use the amps constantly. I do know someone--perhaps the oldest Lamm dealer-- who runs his constantly. I get fairly long life from the amp tubes, which I buy directly from Lamm since the 6C33C not only requires burn in (which Lamm does, not sure what the failure rate is) but also has a peculiarity in the output stage*--each 6C33C has a different range in which they properly bias and Lamm matches, by serial number, a tube suitable to the particular amp for that purpose. I thus never tried to buy the tube on the open market. (The particulars for this are not disclosed by Lamm but in talking with another tube amp engineer, he seemed to understand this-- it might be interesting to get somebody else who uses the tube, like Ralph @atmasphere to explain the technical details). Two are in each mono amp- one as the output tube, the other used for voltage regulation. (* I gather that the tube used for the power supply doesn’t require the same degree of matching but since I get them all from the manufacturer of the amp, I am not sure).

One other thing I observed --the only tube I roll in the amps is the 12ax7 and have long preferred an old stock Tele ribbed plate (over the smooth plate). Many of the so-called NOS are, as you likely know, "pulls." I have been using truly never used old stock 12ax7s, a little more money but they seem to last much longer and the bias on the amps seems more stable.

Here’s a little tube porn for ya:

@billstevenson -good point. In Austin, we get 110F for days and weeks on end in the summer. The utility sends out constant warnings about potential rolling black-outs as a threat to turn down the A/C and conserve power. I simply don't turn the big system on during the summer, not b/c of the heat indoors- we are well insulated and have very efficient new HVAC, but because of power quality issues. 

I thought about buying a pair of Valvets (solid state amps) to use in lieu of my Lamm SETs, but everything else in the chain is tube as well (except a modest digital front end and the woofers/subwoofers and turntable). So, the idea of regeneration might make good sense. I haven't heard one since they were first introduced. We had very "clean" power here even without the big Iso transformer (10Kva) I installed as p/o an electrical subsystem for the main hi-fi, but given the growth and power demands, I consider it a risk to play this gear when the grid is "iffy." When I was in NY, along the Hudson, we had very antiquated power infrastructure, and could lose power easily. 

I'm thinking I might take up ice sculpture or some other hobby during the summer, which is brutal. (Though right now, the weather is perfect, the blue bonnets will soon come out and there are an awful lot of great things about living here).  I guess no place is perfect. 

We aren't constrained to live here, I'm retired, my wife will retire in a few months. And I may have one last move in me, but that's a constant topic of discussion-- where?

(to be continued, perhaps in another thread).

PS: I'd live abroad for no reason other than the excitement, history and challenge but that's a hard sell to my spouse. She loves traveling, but also likes being in proximity to friends. I'm different: I could live out of a good hotel in a safe place that had good food, a village or town full of life and proximity to the things needed- health care, an airport and a little culture. I did so for many years when I was on the road.  Oh, and no more winters, which is why I'm here, rather than the NE. 

@inna, don’t know. There’s the Definitive Audio/Living Voice folks who used to (maybe still do) work out of an old Edwardian factory in England. They have a very substantial battery system, inverter, etc. Yeah, that would be even better, but I wonder what dealing with the batteries would be like.

We did do a whole house back-up generator but I went to some lengths to have the electricians feed the hi-fi subsystem from the main panel, then moved all the generator supported stuff, lights, appliances, gas furnaces and main floor AC to a separate feed. That, in turn has the ATS for the generator and a 24 breaker box of its own, so only the circuits directly hooked up to the ATS/service panel get generator power. This was done to separate the hi-fi power subsystem from the ATS in light of Framer’s complaints. I tapped into Rex’s expertise on that- he helped on Fremers’ project, which also implicated some other issues, only reinforcing my belief that, at least in single family dwellings where you have control from the meter, an "audit" of your existing electrical system should be done starting at the meter, before adding "improvements."

Obviously, living in an apartment has limitations in that regard.