What's the life span of vavles (KT120)

[SpiralTrance]

As thread title.

Whats the life span of valves like KT120s, 6H30 and 6550C?

And when they die do they all die roughly at the same time or can the difference be 100s of hours?

 

[Andre Marc]

As thread title.

Whats the life span of valves like KT120s, 6H30 and 6550C?

And when they die do they all die roughly at the same time or can the difference be 100s of hours?

Oh boy! No real correct answer. I went 4 years with my 6550Cs before going to K120 without a hint of degradtion
or bias drift.

K120s are too new so the jury is out on them.

All of this depends on how long you listen, how often, how hard you drive the amp etc.

Audio Research used say that their 6550s were good for 2000 hours.

 

[mep]

2000 hours is the common figure given for when you should change out a set of output tubes. I think the 6H30 is rated for many more hours of life than standard output tubes. You don't want to wait until a tube blows to replace it if you can help it.

 

[SpiralTrance]

I went 4 years with my 6550Cs before going to K120 without a hint of degradtion
or bias drift.

K120s are too new so the jury is out on them.

Does the dound degrade on them then over time? I thought they operate like a light bulb and just die suddenly.

2000 hours is the common figure given for when you should change out a set of output tubes. I think the 6H30 is rated for many more hours of life than standard output tubes. You don't want to wait until a tube blows to replace it if you can help it.

What happens if the tube blows in your amp? Changing them before they blow sounds like a good way for hi fi companies to make alot of money as you have to buy new tubes when maybe you don't need to.

 

[Andre Marc]

Does the dound degrade on them then over time? I thought they operate like a light bulb and just die suddenly.





What happens if the tube blows in your amp? Changing them before they blow sounds like a good way for hi fi companies to make alot of money as you have to buy new tubes when maybe you don't need to.

There is nothing to worry about. Power tubes CAN die slowly. Usually if they start drifting, or if you hear noise, it is a pretty good sign they need to be
replaced. They can also arc. That has happened to me once ever in 25 years. If a tube goes, it depends on your amp. Different designers have different
defense mechanisms.

No, hifi companies are not out to scam you to buy new tubes. You can go years and years and years never replacing tubes if you buy them from
reputable suppliers, like Upscale Audio and the Tube Depot.

Dude, I am the least technical person around here and I have no problems keeping my tube equipment tip top.

 

[SpiralTrance]

Power tubes CAN die slowly. Usually if they start drifting, or if you hear noise, it is a pretty good sign they need to be
replaced. They can also arc. That has happened to me once ever in 25 years. If a tube goes, it depends on your amp. Different designers have different
defense mechanisms.

No, hifi companies are not out to scam you to buy new tubes. You can go years and years and years never replacing tubes if you buy them from
reputable suppliers, like Upscale Audio and the Tube Depot.

Dude, I am the least technical person around here and I have no problems keeping my tube equipment tip top.

What's drifting exactly?

And I just noticed your a pro hifi reviewer can I ask you honestly is there really much of a difference between a pair £3k audiolab monoblocks and a pair of £44k dan dagostino momentum? Spec wise there both pretty much the same. The momentums have slightly higher output but there 15 times the price. Realisticly how much better would they sound over the audiolabs? Twice as good at the most? There are people saying you can't tell the difference between solid state amps (except at very high volumes) and dacs under double blind listening tests and it's all a scam.

I can see why valve gear is expensive because the parts inside are less common and opinion that valves sound better is pretty much universal. Also speakers will have a massive difference but do a £30k set of wilson sasha sound much difference from say a £10k set of speakers with two 8" cones in it?

Reason I ask is the some of the price of hifi gear is absolutely insane. I've never heard hi end stuff yet and can only base my opinion on what i've read on forums and some people say expensive hifi is outright fraud/rip off while others say there are differences. If it was being sold on design and exclusivity I could understand the high prices but the companies claim there £50k amps + dacs do something magical £4k amps + dacs don't.

 

[Andre Marc]

What's drifting exactly?

And I just noticed your a pro hifi reviewer can I ask you honestly is there really much of a difference between say a £3k audiolab monoblocks and say a £44k dan dagostino? Spec wise there both pretty much the same. The momentums have slightly higher output but there 15 times the price. Realisticly how much better would they sound over the audiolabs? Twice as good at the most? There are people saying you can't tell the difference between solid state amps (except at very high volumes) and dacs under double blind listening tests and expensive cables are a scam.

I can see why valve gear is expensive because the parts inside are less common. Also speakers will have a massive difference but do a £30k set of wilson sasha sound much difference from say a £10k set of speakers with two 8" cones in it?

Reason I ask is the some of the price of hifi gear is absolutely insane. I've never heard hi end stuff yet and can only base my opinion on what i've read on forums. If it was being sold on design and exclusivity I could understand the high prices but the companies claim there £50k amps do something magical £4k amps don't.

Drifting is in reference to the bias. I would strongly suggest doing some research on the basics of tube amps.

As far as answering your questions, I don't think there would be much value since it seems
you have spent quite a bit of time on forums reading various things from very opinionated posters,
which btw, is par for the course!

That being said....If you say have no experience with high end stuff, I strongly suggest you go and listen. Take your time, enjoy
your self with music you are familiar with. You will have a blast.

And yes, the price of high end gear can be insane. But what do YOU consider expensive?

I have a Bob Carver 20 wpc tube amp I reviewed that goes for $2200. I say its worth double based
on sound quality. Maybe $2200 is all someone wants to spend on their ENTIRE system!

So you can see asking about a 3K amp vs a 55K amp vs 10K speaker vs a 30k speaker is just going around in circles.

Welcome aboard!!!