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Replace tubes yearly?

I just watched a Paul McGowan video (PS Audio) about the wisdom of leaving your gear powered on all the time. I get that. He also said that vacuum tube gear is the exception and not to leave it on all the time. I get that too.

But he also mentioned that it didn’t make a huge difference since you probably should replace your tubes every year.

Is that true? I have an Audio Research LS-16 tube preamp from the late 90s or early 2000s. I don’t think the tubes have ever been changed. I’m not really a ’tube’ guy but this unit was given to me 6 or 8 years ago. As far as I know these tubes are original.

At one point I got curious about the different sound quality potential of different tubes and another Audiogon member lent me a set of tubes to try out. I could definitely tell a difference but did not think the new ones sounded better than the original ones. I mention this because at that time the original tubes were quite old and still sounded quite good. And still do.

So, bottom line is, is there any real need to replace tubes on a schedule of some sort. Maybe its different if it is an amp versus a pre-amp?

 

n80

Showing 1 response by dougthebiker

dougthebiker
220 posts
 

@larsman My new WE 300B's were about 2 1/2 years old, guaranteed for 5 years as you know.  My only backup was a set of cheap Cossars that came with the amp.

WE had a sale in November so I figured buy another pair just in case.

I had no idea mine had deteriorated and the guys in our audio club always thought my rig sounded great.  Much to my surprise, I put the new ones in to break them in and they sounded glorious.  Immediately clear they sounded much better, much more detail at every frequency.  Greater precision in the soundstage.  Not a subtle improvement.

The old ones had about 4,500 hours on them and weren't showing any signs of of their having deteriorated.

BTW, I've had 12AU7s deteriorate seriously within only 9 months.

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