Replace tubes yearly?

Thanks guys.

@oberoniaomnia If tube rolling just means trying different tubes I did that once. As mentioned, even with my not-so-golden ears there was a distinct difference in the sound. But I was very hard pressed to say that I liked one better than the other and was not compelled to buy the loaner tubes. So my tube rolling days are probably over. ;-) But, the idea of a back up set certainly has its merits.

@yogiboy and @noromance and @antigrunge2  I like watching Paul's videos and have learned a lot from them but I sometimes disagree about some of the things he says or find them not to be significant when I put them into practice. But who am I to question?

@bigtwin I do not leave my gear powered up. The tube pre-amp has a 45 second soft start and the amp has like a 10 second soft start. The amp also makes a fair amount of heat even when not in use. I don't need that in the summer here in the south. And while I am not an environmentalist by any stretch, I am of Scottish descent (tight wad) and am a conservative (in the environmental sense) so I hate wasting electricity or environmental resources for no good reason.

Having said that I do have a Sonos Amp that stays powered up.

Just looked at my LS-16 manual. It says it is fine to leave it on all the time but that it may shorten tube life.

Also, I have an exhaust fan on the LS-16 and two on my amp. Amp is solid state. Both are in an open front enclosure with decent ventilation but I consider the fans to be good insurance and that might have help my tubes have last so long.

Thanks @oberoniaomnia 

I was glad that I was able to hear the difference between tubes but disappointed that I didn't find the pricier replacement ones to sound a lot better. I do not even remember which tube I tried and I don't know what is in there now but I think they are Electro-Harmonix 6922.

The LS-16 unfortunately has 4 tubes which would make rolling more expensive. The E-H 6922s are cheap.

The manual says the original tubes are 6922/E88CC tubes and should last 4000 hours. Since I was given this preamp after years of use I cannot even guess how many hours these have on them.

@rar1 This is exactly what Paul said:

"Honestly, if you have tube equipment you’re used to replacing the tubes. I do it every year [gesturing toward his equipment], you know, you just have to. That’s kind of a given when you have vacuum tubes."

So no need to smugly lecture everyone else about how we misconstrued things. Fine, if you’re a hi-fi expert you may have understood that Paul was making a generalization. But in the context of this video, and many of his others, he positions himself as the authority on the matter and addresses questions from people who do not seem to be experts and the videos are clearly being watched by people who aren’t experts, like me. We see him as the expert he is and it is not "going off" to take him at face value.

And no one is really "pissing" on anyone. Paul puts himself and his videos out there as a presumed expert, if not the expert. If his opinions and even his off-the-cuff remarks are seen as off the mark by other experts or misunderstood by us "sports fans" who aren’t, it is hardly "pissing" on him to point it out.

@rar1 Okay, this is what you posted:

"Some folks rush to opine, some rush to smear, some rush to offer conspiracy theories, but no one rushes to go back to what Paul actually said."

So that's not smug? Whatever.

I went back to what Paul actually said as you suggested. I quoted it for you verbatim. I took him at face value. My initial impression stands. As far as I can tell no one else here  seriously misunderstood him either. Any 'swipes' taken were perfectly reasonable even if possibly mistaken.

As OP I have nothing to add to the great technical advice given in this thread.

I do wish I could remember which Audiogon member sent me those tubes a few years ago. It was a very gracious, and trusting, thing to do for someone he’d never met anywhere but here.

I will also say that in the last year or so I get a little bit of speaker hum when I first turn my system on. It goes away to complete silence after about 5 minutes. This is an old system so I guess it could be anything but it makes me wonder if it might be a tube. I may get a back-up set just to test it.

But, I confess that I absolutely hate messing with my system, fooling with cords and pulling components out. I guess some people enjoy that but I don't.

Ah, now I remember. Thanks.

Side question: When I look down into my AR LS-16 pre, each tube has a rubber collar around it. I don't see those on tubes that are for sale. Is this just something for handling purposes?