Tube emission


Folks: I received a matching quad from Grant fidelity (KT88) with an emission of 120mA. One was bad and had to be returned. It was replaced with a single tube at 130mA emission. I have been told by others that the use of tubes w/ different emission can hurt my amp. The tube dealer said it would be no problem. who is correct here? Is there a problem if one tube is higher in emission than the others?

robsker
When you place new tubes u usually adjust bias and that's how you compensate descrepancies between emission currents.
For amps with auto-bias it's no issue at all.
You aren't going to hurt your amp. At worst the unmatched emmissions may result in audible differences in output but this is not a certantainty.
Unmatched tubes utilizing a common bias pot can cause a rise in distortion.