Tired of Problems with Tube Equipment

I can't say I've had a tremendous diversity or breadth of experience compared to what is available, but I have used tubed components for many years. I've been using various tube components, practically exclusively, for eight or nine years now. I've mixed in a few SS devices during that period as well, but they don't seem to last long with me (there's your personal preference), though I've certainly enjoyed them for various reasons. Unlike Smeyers I have not had many problems at all over the years with tube components. Most, not all, of the stuff I've used is point-to-point wired. I've not owned that many tube components that are primarily assembled using circuit boards. My experience echos Jrb25: I've owned five different pairs of Quicksilver amps (among a handful of others) and never had a single problem with any of them, including the Quicksilver SET amps I've had for about six years. I'm not counting arcing tubes, which have always been current production Russian tubes (this has happened three separate occasions with three entirely different amps), as none were the fault of the component. It could have something to do with the actual components you've chosen...perhaps? Smeyers - can you give us a rundown of some of the components you've had the problems you've described?

I have owned too many tube and SS components to count. I must say I always go back to tubes, but, I have had WAY more issues with tubes than SS. To me tubes are the ultra hot girlfriend who is a pain in the ass, but God she looks/sounds great.

I have had problems with both tubes and SS but only a few times over 30+ years.

to some extent you need good common sense to use tube equipment. on occasion I will get a tube flash when I power up my amp and immediatly shut it down for about 10 minutes and then power back up and let it idle for at least 20 minutes and slowly turn it up, those tubes never give me a problem. I am sure if i had just played it the first time it would have flared worse and eventually taken out a cap or worse.

some people will ignore these signs and they are the ones who should own SS.

I'll weigh in here with my personal experience with tube equipment. I've owned an Audio Note M1 pre-amp and P2 SE amplifier since 1995. During that period I have never had a problem with the equipment in any aspect. Tubes eventually wear out, but that's to be expected with extensive use over the expected life of the tubes. That's my experience. Well designed tube equipment should perform as designed and as expected. Parts failures can happen as there is a finite life span for such parts as tubes and capacitors.