Output tubes are usually wired in parallel, not in series. Thus it is quite possible for one to fail while the others roll along. I have no idea why my previous post was deleted, but it was. Perhaps an overzealous censor.
Life of KT 150 Tubes
Auris audio Mono Block -Forte 150 uses Two KT150 for power output for each monos, Very strangely a both amps popped the KT 150 same time. I can vouch it had less than 1000 hours in 2 years as I have NAIM NAC 252/NAP 300 in the same room. I tested the tubes and one is 100% dead and the rest have very marginal life. With great difficulty I have ordered four new tubes. Would any of you know why this would have happened, in the sense bath amps not working at the same time? I am trying to get hold of Auris in Serbia. Even a good Valve tech will not open the unit without schematics and Auris wouldn’t provide one. I am in Canada. There are 2 authorized service center in the US. When crated both amp weighs 94 Kgs.Not easy to ship. I tried with a borrowed set of TUBES , there is no Biasing at all,mA reads 0, but there is signal coming in and VU display lights up.
Lesson learnt well not to buy equipment that is hard to service. I bought this even before there was a dealer in canada. I tried contacting the distributor Motet in Toronto. They are telling me to contact Dealer in Edmonton 300Km away. He never sold me the unit, why would he have any interest if he didn’t make any money on this unit? The unit cost $16,800 USD. Any advise what I should do?
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As you guys seem so knowledgeable . Let me tell you this. When I turned on my pre and monos , left Chanel was not working , checked the input and out , everything was good. I did get a faint burnt smell on the left unit. Left unit had signal coming in. Right unit was working. I changed both the KT 150 from left to Right , I couldn’t tell which tube popped, that’s it even the right unit stopped working. Both units had signal coming in. But no sound.
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That might have been true 4-5 years ago. Not so much any more. Its possible OP got hands on some early gen old stock 150s with the amp from 4+ years ago. Just a hunch. They had gotten it sorted out past few years. Again - buying tubes from a reputable tube dealer/reseller matters. Buy from someone with proper test equipment who actually stress tests, listens for noise, and matches output tubes before sending them out. Now fast-forward there are other sourcing problems of course. Hoping at least 1-2 other new builders step up with even better KT120, KT150, KT170 gen tubes. They could sell the crap out of them if they did it right. . |
@vishu I had a Jolida 3502p Amplifier and immediately installed cryo’d by Upscale Audio in L.A. 4x KT150’s and they were fine for 8 months. I sold the Amp only to finance the hand building of 6 Orchard Audio Amplifier modules. The current owner has had the Amplifier since Aug. of 2021 with no issues. I had Tubes Cryogenically frozen when I bought them from Upscale only because I read somewhere that they will last longer. Nothing to do with how they sound. Not much help advising you but that was my experience. |
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