Tubes are at their best right out of the box. They slowly decline with use and age. As the cathode coating is used up they weaken but will still work for a long time. There is no "break-in" - contrary to what the misinformed claim! A vacuum tube is not like a fine wine! The best sound is at initial turn-on.
Replacing tubes and caps
Well I finally changed some tubes in the Audio Research SP-10 power supply (6L6WGC and a 12AT7) and the four pre amp tubes in the line drive section of the pre amp. I got to say Holy Crap! What a change in the sound field that my system produces. The depth and presence of the music has increased along with the detail that is now more present than before. The bass and treble have improved as well, also the nuances that I did not really hear before are there as well. Most of this is I believe is due to the fact that one of the line drive tubes showed a shorted condition on my B&K tube tester and one other showed weak, the other two tubes checked ok, but by replacing all four with better tubes (7308 vs 6DJ8) I have taken my vintage equipment to a new level and as I stated earlier I did replace a lot of capacitors with new original ones from the manufacture. And just prior to this there is that one time you listen to your system as it finally "breaks in" I am hopeful that after these new tubes break in that I will experience that again. Listening to some of my music it really moves you to tears on how much enjoyment and pleasure and that your hard work pays off in this endeavor and made it all with while. Happy listening. I know I will!
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