Lowering Tube power amp output


Hello everyone,

Wanted to ask the tube power amp users here if there is a way to reduce power output/ heat generation from the amp. I have a Rogue Audio Zeus amp which is rated at 200w/ channel. Can removing some power tubes reduce output power and lower heat dissipation? How can I lower its power draw effectively without causing any damage to unit

tubelvr1

Just a thought, you can replace the KT88s with KT77s. I believe that will drop the power to about 50W. I have Rogue M-180s. They were loaned to me to audition for a month. The owner was using KT88s in them and frankly they sounded great to me. I bought a new set of KT120s, installed them and set the bias. Big difference in many things including heat generation. But like someone already said, call or email Rogue and see what your functional options are. They are great people to deal with.

Call Rogue audio!! The only audio amps I know of that you can remove some power tubes reduce output power without issue or damage is Atma-Sphere amps.

Mike

probably off my rocker here,  "but"

i sometime mess around with some older(50's/60's) lower power tube pcs, and when first start up i always start with a variac. slow, low power. i started to realize that most all tube amps will generate sounds at a lower power. some actually start to generate music at 70/75 volts,(not a perfect sound) but good enough to tell that the unit was going to work without the magic smoke . i realized that around 100vac the beginning sound was good enough to sound ok for my old snuff box ears(older folks might get this) also actually drops transformer temperature, and i feel with less trans stress. oh, less heat by far. with a pair 6l6 amps, 50w quad each running at 100v did make a lot of difference in room temp. but still these are my winter amps, they will come down in the spring. 

you can hang me if i am wrong. so far it has worked for me. my opinion less power in, cooler internal parts, maybe even longer tube life, a lot less heat. i have been doing this for a few years with no noticeable difference in sound quality (snuff box/can) 

by the way usually i don't push the amps very hard, most time at lower volumes.

16x16 room, between 85 / 100db as loud as i like it, until after a little numbing then sometime move volume up a little. that is a lot of talking too much but(lucy said splain yourself).

sorry for being long winded  

Lowering voltage might do the trick without causing any damage.  In some applications, under-voltage could be harmful to transistors, but, I doubt that there is a problem with tube gear.  Does anyone know if the lower voltage might reduce the cathode/heater emissions to the point where cathode stripping might occur?

Personally, I would sell the amp and look for a lower powered amp if you determine that you really don't need that much power.  Two hundred watts is usually way more than one really needs for almost any speaker.  I generally don't like the sound of higher powered tube amps that are running a multitude of high-powered tubes, like KT88, KT120, and KT150.  These types of amps tend to be "hard" or "harsh" sounding compared to lower powered amps running the likes of 6L6 or KT66 tubes.  I would take a 40 watt KT66 or an even smaller 6L6 amp any day over a high-powered tube brute.