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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 onhwy61

onhwy61's avatar
onhwy61
5,276 posts
 

Unless a tube fails in someway, you never have to replace your tubes.  Run them for 30 or even 50 years at a time and they will function.  Now your equipment won't sound it's absolute best as the tubes age, but that's a very subjective observation.

I don't know of any power tubes that will last 30+ years, but for small signal tubes in conservatively designed circuits it shouldn't be that big of a deal.  Again, they won't sound perfect, but I can't do the things I used to do 30 years ago either.

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