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 jhills

When an output tube blew in my Rogue Cronus Mag. II, a while back, I called Rogue to get advice and order a new set of KT-120s. Rick told me that I could expect to get about 2000 Hrs. from a set of the KT-120s and several thousand from the input tubes. Since I listen to my music for about 40 - 50 Hrs per week that would be a new set of tubes every year - even If I faithfully turn off at the end of every secession. Rick told me that there is no sonic advantage to a warm up of more than 10 or 15 minuets on that amp, so, in lieu of cost and headaches, I'm being a bit more mindful of shutting it down between listening sessions...Jim