2. amps-preamps
  3. 123582-60959

AYON KT-SX Tube quality (failure rate?)

I bought a new/demo ("was only played at CES this Jan 2016...") AYON TRITON III from the US distributer this January.

Within 3 weeks 2 of the 8 KT88-SX tubes either expired or the amp complained about the tube. The vendor said: "90 days on new tubes..." ...which meant I was out of luck given his logic. New tubes cost around $180 or so.

I have either spoken with other Ayon owners on this or other forums, in private (after posting about Ayon) or when seeking to buy these tubes from them.

Guess what?

They have had the same failure rate.

Please weigh in: I am relatively new (1 year) to tube gear and have no idea if I should expect more monthly replacements. (I bought 3 matched quads of new Gold Lion KT88s, but the Ayons sound quite good to me, I just am appalled at the failure rates I experienced or heard about.)
128x128vicweast

Showing 3 responses by podsds

podsds
3 posts
 
I have an Ayon Triton II with very low use.  I noticed recently that I am pushing the volume dial higher and higher to achieve the same volume I am accustomed too.  Furthermore, I have gone full volume on some selections and while the room was filled it was no where near the volume of lower setting when the amp was newer.

I have been in contact with AyonUSA and they are working with me on this, but I suspect the bottom line will be to replace the driver tubes.  I have already replaced the Tungsram 12AU7 ecc82 audio tubes with NOS RCA cleartop 12AU7 ecc82.  The replacement was recommended by  AyonUSA based on a description of the problem.  This change has made a difference in the sound, tight base and a brighter high end which I like, but the volume issues persists.

Next I am about to try a diagnostic reset per AyonUSA, they are still working with me.  I would like to find the root cause before changing the driver tubes (KT88sx), but maybe it is not possible.

I'm wondering what symptoms other Ayon amp owners have had and how have they been resolved.
podsds
3 posts
 
vicweast, yeah that's the same group I have been trying to work with as well.  I too asked about the swapping the KT-88 with KT150, but never got a clear answer.

At this point my fear is damage to the amp because of a bad/weak tube.  I have no way of testing that and on this unit I must trust the auto BIAS as I have no way to measure it manually.

Out of curiosity, what set of tubes did you go with and fill me in on the illuminating insight (PM me if necessary)?
podsds
3 posts
 
Thanks for the information; it sounds as if we have had similar experience with the AZ Ayon rep.  I think I will contact Ayon directly with the serial number to get a definitive answer.  At the moment I have ripped my CDs to lossless FLAC files and am using a DAC to feed the amp.  I am also slowly rebuilding a vinyl collection and feeding the amp with a vintage turntable and a Sony E2000ESD preamp.

BTW I'm in IT as well; started as a programmer, COBOL for health Insurance and moved my way to System Admin (mostly Unix/Linux these days and a good deal of data processing through native shell script)
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