Tube Amp Questions...

[BottomFeeder]

Ok, I bought one of those ipod tube amp thingies (love it!) and, as I'm a complete newbie to tubes, have a few questions that I'd appreciate being answered by you tube pro's!

1. Do tubes need to be warmed up before being played? (If so, for how much time?)
2. Do you leave tube amps on all the time, or turn them off after listening?
3. How often do tubes need to be replaced if at all?

Any other advice you can give would be greatly appreciated! I don't even know what questions to ask?

Thanks!!! :D:D:D

[hearingimpared]

Ok, I bought one of those ipod tube amp thingies (love it!) and, as I'm a complete newbie to tubes, have a few questions that I'd appreciate being answered by you tube pro's!

1. Do tubes need to be warmed up before being played? (If so, for how much time?)

Yes, how long is usually noted in the user manual; my experience is the longer they are on the better they sound.


2. Do you leave tube amps on all the time, or turn them off after listening?

Depends on the tubes. The tubes in my integrated are 100,000 hour tubes plus I have spares, therefore I pretty much leave it on all the time. All the rest of the tubed gear I turn off when I am done listening for the day.


3. How often do tubes need to be replaced if at all?

It depends on the tubes. The ones I have in my CD player are 10,000 hours tubes, others are 5,000 hour tubes.

I'm new to tubes myself and this is what I've learned thus far.

[beardog03]

what he said !! ^^^

I leave my tubes in stndby mode all the time , or on...

The longer they are on, the better they sound..
Give them at least 15-20 minutes to warm up from dead cold...your manual will probably say 3-5 minutes, but I let them warm up and stablize before I put anything through them

tube life is pretty much what has been said already...

If you listen daily, and steadily, just leave em on....that`s what I do

If your not, it`s fine to turn them off everyday....just make sure you don`t get in a hurry

let them warm up

[BottomFeeder]

Thanks very much for the advice, boys!

My manual's almost worthless - it doesn't say anything about warm up time or anything else. I'm totally in the dark here, so any and all advice is greatly appreciated.

Hope you're feeling better, Joe!

[hearingimpared]

Thanks Preacher!

[zingo]

Great little post on tube etiquette. It was helpful to me, and I assume others.

[TroyD]

Many tube preamps cut the output for a few minutes while the tubes warm up.....

I don't leave my gear on all the time, I flip it on about a half hour before I plan to get my listen on.

You can tell when a tube degrades...you can hear it when it needs to be replaced. Generally speaking a new tube will last longer than you own the piece.

BDT

[danger boy]

30 minute tube warm up here too... sounds best that way.