? Tube Replacement Question ?

I recently replaced the tubes in my sp16 after about two years of fairly heavy use.

In my case, the issues I noticed with age was noticeable background noise that was not there prior.

I replaced all 6 tubes with Groove Tube Gold 12AX7s from Guitar Center for $20 each.

I decided to try to buy from the GC down the road first before going to ARC for their "certified" tubes at higher cost.

The olny difference I notice in sound is a tad more background noise in the phono section than prior perhaps, but nothing significant. The sp16 is very quiet now as it was with the new tubes that came in the unit from ARC when I bought it.

I figured if these did not work out, I would buy then from ARC and keep these as spares, but things have in fact worked out well.

One thing I found out of value is that rearranging the tubes internally can have effects on the amount of background noise produced. The trick is to get the best/strongest tubes into the prime slots I believe either by trial and error as I did or perhaps using a tube tester. I was able to prolong the useful life of my original tubes by almost a year doing this.

Kit,

If it still sounds good to you other than the hiss in teh one channel, try rearranging the tubes in the sp16 in different orders first before replacing.

SP 16 uses 6 tubes. Tubes age at different rates. Location of the tubes in the sp16 slots help determine resulting background noise levels I found. As tubes age differently, moving a "better" tube into a different location can make a difference and buy you time before you are inclined to replace.

Kit,

With my sp16, I hear a tad more hiss/background noise only in the phono stage at higher volumes with nothing playing using the Groove Tube Gold 12AX7s compared to the original "low noise" tubes that came in the unit for ARC. Not an issue for me but for those who cannot handle any extra noise at all in their phono stage ever, it might be.

A note regarding tube dampers.

The tubes in my SP16 came with removable dampers.

I put these on teh new tubes when I replaced them.

The gal at ARC told me that the dampers were not removable and reusable with some older production units. ie they tended to adhere to the tubes over time.