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When do you turn off the tubes?

Having had recent surgery and spending a lot of time at home, I was wondering how long a break from music do you feel you need to be taking before turning off your tube amplifier.I could leave it on all day even when not listening but that would be 12+hours/day.While my PrimaLuna Dialogue HP is gentle on tubes, the thought of retubing 8 KT150s is an expensive prospect.I usually turn the amplifier off if I am not going to listen for around 3 hours.What do other people do?

crwindy

Showing 1 response by atmasphere

atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
11,574 posts
 
Just wondering about the 1-2 hour breaks.
We have a Standby feature on our amps. It keeps them lit but no B+ on the power tubes (the driver however still has B+ as the 6SN7s have a much longer life). This helps the amp keep its warmed up quality, but no wear on the power tubes.
But if I am away for much longer than that I just shut the amps off. If the amp has no standby feature I would just shut it off if you're only gone for 1-2 hours.
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