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Best Way To Maximize Preamp Tube Life?

I would love to learn how to best maximize tube life. Tubes have a limited lifespan, of course. So when you're not listening for a time, is it best to shut everything off to preserve the "hours" left on the tube's life? OR does the act of powering off/on itself shorten tube length as well? If so, by how much? Something like "powering off/on costs 3 hrs of tube life, so taking a music break of less than 3 hours, better to just leave it powered on." Or 1 hr, or 10 minutes, 6 hours, etc? Where is the tradeoff point?

In my system FYI, I am running a Don Sachs preamp with 4 6SN7s and 1 6BY5 rectifier.  Don says the preamp is only running the tubes at 40% of their rating. I would greatly appreciate some input from people with tube knowledge. Thanks in advance!
sid-hoff-frenchman

Showing 1 response by femoore12

femoore12's avatar
femoore12
683 posts
 
I really enjoy reading through this kind of discussion. I am new to tube preamp/amp ownership and I honestly had no good information on how to approach the maintenance. I have been turning my system on about 15-20 minutes before I start playing music just to let it warm up. The preamp and amp are usually on for 3-4 hours on average. Some days they will stay on 8-10 if the weather is bad and I am just chilling in the house. 

I definitely need to buy some spare tubes.

Cheers!
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