Cryo Treatment: does it provide improvements in sound or longevity?
I'd be interested in hearing from audiophiles that have actually tried Cryogenic treated tubes and listened to them vs non-treated.
I would really prefer not to hear from folks from a theoretical point of view, or that have no experience.
The last time I bought a set of tubes for my amp, just for fun I got the Cryogenic treated ones. They are replacements on my Audio Research Ref 160s. My KT150s were approaching the end of life and I heard them getting hard sounding. So I switched them out. The new tubes immediately restored the amp to its beautiful normal sound. I heard no difference from Cryo... although if it was subtle... no way I would... this was no purposeful comparison. I guess I'll have to wait 3,000 hours to see if they last longer.
Just wondering if someone with good equipment and a trained ear has done listening tests (not measurements) and made a conclusion.
Cryo of tubes is hilarious, as when using the tube, it gets heated! Red hot heated! So the entire "benefit" of cryo literally evaporates when using the tube. LOL! AFAIK, cryo is most prevalent in tubes, so cast further doubt on it. The only half way reasonable argument I have heard is that cryo treatment puts stress on the tube and will cause failure of structurally bad tube due to cryo treatment. Not loosing sleep over that. Kevin sure is a great sales person. I have to give him that. |
@pindac In thinking back on my reasoning for purchasing the cryo'd tubes, one of the reasons was purported longevity. In my case there was also the benefit of being hand picked and closely matched, whatever the case last time I had these tubes checked and measured on Amplitrex AT1000 tubes measured fine, these estimated somewhere between 500-1000 hours.
I've only seen cryo treatment of tubes post production, seemed to be a thing back in early 2000's when I purchased mine, don't see that many offerings these days. |
Interesting how the OP inquired about Cryotone tubes specifically initially of which I was the first to respond to in this thread then Cryotone was changed to "Cryogenic" and my initial response deleted leaving my subsequent responses out of context. Does the OP or anyone else hear have an in with the Moderators to have their posts edited to suit whatever ulterior motives the OP or their Moderator buddies might have? Seems I've seen this before here! Hmm. |
There was another thread about Cryotone tubes. This is not it. I will admit that other thread made me think about the treatment and start this thread.
I think this is the thread you were talking about.
https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/cryotone-tube-back-order-issue?highlight=Cryotone |
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