Tube rings for power tubes?


I recently bought a set of 6550 power tubes that came with tube rings. ARC has long been putting rings on their preamp tubes and there seems to be no question that doing so helps their sound. Has anyone had experience using rings on power tubes? Thanks.
arahl

Showing 2 responses by nsgarch

Well if you guys say so ;--) I have to admit, it's been awhile since I've dealt w/ a lot of hot output tubes (16 x 6550's !) so maybe Herbie is able to offer something more heat resistant than used to be available.

But I still can't understand why one would need dampers on a power output tube -- i.e. unless the tube has internal damage, microphonics shouldn't be a problem in a reasonably vibration-free environment, and adding dampers to the glass envelope would impede cooling and create hot zones. So what would be the benefit? Am I missing something?
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They CAME with tube rings? Are they the rubber (tube damper) type or the metal (heat radiating) kind? Where did you buy them? Did you ask the seller?

OK, I haven't heard of this or seen it -- ever. First, power tubes get so hot they'd burn/melt most tube rings, even the ones made with special silicon rubber. Two, good power tubes are not generally susceptible to microphonics like preamp tubes are, so damping is not really necessary.

The heat dissipating types (with metal fins) are not really any more effective than just leaving the glass exposed -- and could cause hot spots on the glass.
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