What happens when a tube amp fails?

I would like to add to Newbee's first item that the 'pop' can be very loud. When one of the output tubes in my MC2000 went, I thought at first that someone had fired a gun right outside the window behind the amp. It took out a resistor, too. The amp was idling at the time.

Bill

I had a rectifier tube go (one of 2 5ar4s), and didn't notice till the next day. Usually they go gracefully, and no pasa nada. However....once, a 300b went supernova. Quite impressive, but heart stopping to say the least. That event took out a couple caps and a resistor or two. The good news is MANY tube amps aren't that complicated to fix. Point to point is obviously the easiest.
As has been said, enjoy. In more than 10 years with this amp, only once did anything serious occur. And it really wasn't that serious.
Rob

Add a little more excitement in your life and enjoy tubes.
It makes life a bit more worth living!

What happens when a tube amp fails....the repair tech rings his hands in glee.

I've had a peaceful coexistence with tubes for over 10 yrs now. There have been a couple of instances but a fuse was all that "went". Cause in both cases was a short in the rectifier.

I have a tube tester and that helped identify the shorts immediately. I do test tubes with it but I think the best test is to have a backup set and put them in once a year to "test" against the aging ones.