Tired of Problems with Tube Equipment

Take a good look at Butler's tube/MOSFET hybrid amps - sweet tube sound coupled with the balls of the MOSFETs. And, because he is running the tubes at only 5% of their rated output, the tubes are supposed to last more than 20 years.

www.butleraudio.com

-RW-

Rhljazz, I don't disagree that sometimes things work owning are worth the hassle, as I've done for quite a few years with the equipment I've had (and some cars too!). But (and using your car analogy), how would you feel if your BMW left you stranded far from home a couple of times a year (I actually own a BMW for 10 years and fortunately was only stranded once!)?

Mrjstark, yeah, you probably don't want to get too close to me! I actually had one piece of tube gear that NEVER had a problem in many years of use: the very inexpensive Antique Sound Labs AV-20 that I used in an office system.

Tvad, I have not owned any of the brands you've mentioned; I have owned about 6 or 7 different brands of tube equipment and they all had problems except for the one mentioned above. I have been thinking about class A solid state, although my green side also has me looking at some of the class D stuff (my current class A tube amps consume about 5 amps).

One of the wags that manufactures tube gear said that solid state is like a stuffed dog, no mainenance, no grief. But a tube amp is like a real, live, dog. Once in a while it poops or pisses on the rug, needs to be taken to the vet and has to be walked, fed and loved. There's room in this world for real and stuffed dogs. I'm stickin' with the real ones for now.

If you like the sound of SS stuff, don't fret just buy it. If you don't particularily like the sound, but you think it will last forever without maintenance, and that is important to you, buy it. When it fails you can just believe it is some sort of abboration and you've been unlucky.

The thing I don't like about SS other than the typically dry sound (to my ears) is that the only thing you can do in creating system synergy is to keep buying new stuff 'til you get so frustrated, or broke, that you convince yourself that 'this is as good as ss gets' and compromise.

When I hear SS stuff that produces the same sound as tubes I be standing in a long line I think............I'm tired of all of the fussing too. :-)

BMW cars are like tube gear.

Both can be high maintenance items, yet both can provide lots of enjoyment that makes their potentially inordinate maintenance issues/costs worthwhile.