What do you see as the downside of tubes?


I have decided on getting a tube amp and it will be the integrated Mastersound 300B driving a pair of Living Voice Avatars, so at least that decision has been taken.

My main question is what you see as downsides of having a tube amp. As I've decided on getting an integrated tube it's really about what the downsides are I might want to know about beforehand.

The ones I'm aware are the following.

-The tubes need to be replaced and in the case of a 300B this will be somewhat costly.

-Bias is another issue but I'm not sure how big an issue. Do you plug in your meter every so often or just when you roll tubes or replace a dead one? The meter as such isn't gonna be a big issue as I don't think it's that expensive.

-Heat won't be a big issue as we have no kids nor a nosy dog that could get burned. Hope my electricity bill isn't gonna go through the roof, but then again, I can't quite imagine that.

I'd appreciate if you could add whatever your experiences are regarding this question are as I'd like to know more before I buy it.

Thanks
krauti
Krauti- It was a good thread;enjoy the new gear;fun wasn't it and don't forget to spray pam on the frying pan.
Rleff, thanks for the suggestion :) I might have to think about a drip can so I don't get burnt fat spots on the tubes.
Most lower watt SETs are not hot running. Room warmer far from it. Runs about as hot as any large class ab or class a SS amp.
you won't be going back to ss anytime soon imo...buy an amp that's fused so you don't have to send the unit out for repairs (or learn to solder) anytime you short a tube & keep a backup set of killer tubes around for those occasional hiccups...enjoy
buy an amp that's fused so you don't have to send the unit out for repairs (or learn to solder) anytime you short a tube
There is no guarantee that a fuse will go before a tube blows a resistor or fries a circuit-board trace. The ARC VT130 that I owned years ago and the CAT amps that I own now both have fuses but damage can be done long before the power line fuse ever knows there is a problem.