How can you tell when tubes are shot?


I have an ARC REF1 and ARC REF Phono Preamp as well as assorted solid state gear. I leave everything on 24/7 and am wondering if the tubes just quit working (ie: get really noisy) or whether there is a gradual decline in their performance? ARC makes recommendations on who long they should last but I have been running the REF1 steady for over 18 months and haven't noticed anything.
ntscdan

Showing 1 response by edle

Tube preamp or amp are not supposed to run 24 hours a day unless they have a stand-by feature.