New tubes every year...or every five? ?


I may get thrown off this forum, referred to an ear specialist and sent to Circuit City to replace my system, but it recently occured to me that I did not change the tubes in my recently dumped Jadis JPL pre amp for 5 years! There is no on/off switch on this pre amp but there is a "stand by" switch which was always on. I would say I listened to the system for only an hour or so a week. Since trading my Apogee stages for Martin Logan SL3's about 3 years ago, I rarely listened to the system and found it uninvolving and a little fatiguing and bright. It didn't necessarily sound bad -- I thought I just needed to buy a new D/A or go back to LPs. Is it possible that my very light use and the standby switch would give the tubes such a long lifespan or would a change of tubes have dramatically improved the sound? Maybe I should have kept the system?!? Oh well, more fun to buy new stuff...
cwlondon

Showing 2 responses by gregm

Craig, Detlof's probably hit it the proverbial nail on the SOVhead. The current supply on (my) Jadis was quite stable and ample, hence no extraordinary tube wear. But replacement every 12??? That's expensive -- why not try another tube manuf. and if you feel the top end is soft by comparison -- don't worry: this could be cable or the machine... Just an idea.
Cwlondon, Detlof & others, we'll get a quantity discount for the examination or the hearing aids... I had a Jadis front end with Sylvanias. I sold this back in 1991. The buyer subsequently sold to a friend of mine and, there I was, staring at the same old Jadis about two months ago. Same old Sylvanias, too. Now how about that... (my friend does have a set of brand new Golden Dragons sitting in a drawer)