What happens when a tube amp fails?

ARC amps utilizing 6550's are notorious for going out with a nerve shattering mini explosion and smoke! An ARC tech told me it is the nature of the tube. Typically, there is a resistor adjacent to the failing tube that burns up, sometimes damaging the circuit board. Having experienced it several times, I have become wary of these amps. Makes me nervous and thus I have switched to SS power amps. Their preamps with small tubes are great without this tendency. On the other hand, Wolcott power amps based on EL34 tubes do not do this. When a tube fails, the amp keeps playing, and a an indicator tells you which tube needs replacing. Simply swap it out.

I would like to add to Newbee's first item that the 'pop' can be very loud. When one of the output tubes in my MC2000 went, I thought at first that someone had fired a gun right outside the window behind the amp. It took out a resistor, too. The amp was idling at the time.

Bill

I had a rectifier tube go (one of 2 5ar4s), and didn't notice till the next day. Usually they go gracefully, and no pasa nada. However....once, a 300b went supernova. Quite impressive, but heart stopping to say the least. That event took out a couple caps and a resistor or two. The good news is MANY tube amps aren't that complicated to fix. Point to point is obviously the easiest.
As has been said, enjoy. In more than 10 years with this amp, only once did anything serious occur. And it really wasn't that serious.
Rob

Add a little more excitement in your life and enjoy tubes.
It makes life a bit more worth living!

What happens when a tube amp fails....the repair tech rings his hands in glee.