Voltage regulators and input impedance


I have an Audio Research Ref 5SE pre running into a Modwright KWA 100SE power amp. The input impedance of the Modwright is listed as “15K at 50 Hz” and the specs on the Ref 5 suggest “20K ohms minimum load”. 
 

So here is my question: I have gone through 3 6550 tubes in the Ref 5 (which AR says is used as a “voltage regulator” in the power supply) in the past 3 years - sovtek, tung sol, svetlana, all new. The last one lasted under 500 hours. I am thinking of potential causes, including excessive heat (the location needs better ventilation), something wrong with the preamp, etc, but I am wondering about that input impedance on the power amp. Am I running the Ref 5 into too little of a load? Would that put undue strain on the power supply tube, causing it to fail prematurely? Would love to hear from someone who knows this stuff better than I…

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Showing 2 responses by erik_squires

At either 15kOhms or 20 kOhms your current is extremely small. Take a 1Vrms signal your current is only 0.05 or 0.07 milliamps respectively.

Trust me, your amp’s input impedance is not causing your tubes to burn out because of maybe 20 microamps more load.  It is much more likely however to soften the high frequency response a little.