Tube vibration control


For a while there, it seemed that many people used a vibration suppressor for tubes, and many manufacturers offered a version. Mapleshade had an elaborate all metal tube "jacket, complete with grounding wires that came off of it. More common were the rubber rings that would fit tightly over the tubes. I used to see them a lot - now, when I peruse members systems on this site and other sites, I do not see them as often. Did time teach us that they are not a necessary as we seemed to once think? Did we learn that they caused harm - concentrated heat, for example, and shortened tube life?

 

Just curious, as I have all-tube electronics, and wonder if I am neglecting something that would give them a little boost in performance.

 

Thanks, 

David

dtorc

Showing 1 response by mitch2

Both responses below have good points.  Think about where the vibrations are coming from, which seems more likely from the floor, the equipment stand, sound pressures in the room, IOW mostly external to the tube.  Good support and damping of the equipment chassis will probably do more to mitigate those than tube dampers.

However, I am thankful that I kept my tube dampers from way back since next week I will be getting the first tubed gear I have owned in many years.  I do suspect the tube dampers can help with microphonics of the tube glass, sort of like putting a brass weight on top of a component chassis.  I never noticed an adverse effect when I used them and you can still purchase tube dampers.

Of course these thoughts are all speculation on my part and not based on measurements or listening tests.  As pointed out in a thread a couple of weeks ago, I have not really seen any consistently reliable or uniformly applicable vibration measuring protocols for audio equipment.