Being fairly new to tubes and dealing with 2 reputable guys in the NOS tube business, I’ve had very good luck thus far until the other day. I got some 1958 Mullard 12AU7 long plates several months back that I put in my Primaluna Dialogue Premium preamp.
The other day I was showing off my turntable to a friend and I was knocking on the maple isolation shelf while it was playing showing how the table doesnt skip a beat.
It seemed like I could hear a door bell off in the distance. After some investigating found it was tube in my preamp one shelf below. As I tapped or even rubbed a finger on the glass it sounded like a ringing door bell. The tube is now crackling weeks later.
That’s my first experience with a tube going bad.
What I paid for a matched Octet of Mullard EL34 XF2’s has my fingers crossed on those.
Although I have seen several posts here and elsewhere about owners of Primaluna amps using current production Gold Lion KT88’s with favorable results. Maybe a second set of power tubes to switch out now and then would be a good idea to keep the hours down on the Mullards.
The other day I was showing off my turntable to a friend and I was knocking on the maple isolation shelf while it was playing showing how the table doesnt skip a beat.
It seemed like I could hear a door bell off in the distance. After some investigating found it was tube in my preamp one shelf below. As I tapped or even rubbed a finger on the glass it sounded like a ringing door bell. The tube is now crackling weeks later.
That’s my first experience with a tube going bad.
What I paid for a matched Octet of Mullard EL34 XF2’s has my fingers crossed on those.
Although I have seen several posts here and elsewhere about owners of Primaluna amps using current production Gold Lion KT88’s with favorable results. Maybe a second set of power tubes to switch out now and then would be a good idea to keep the hours down on the Mullards.