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
Mastersound makes great amplifiers. Enjoy! Tube amps need such simple maintenance. If you can change the oil in your lawnmower you will have no problem maintaining a tube amp. If you have to bring the lawnmower in for a new engine because you blew it up, think again.

As for the costs, you just dropped more than the cost of a car for 30% of the population. It will be worth the cost of tubes every couple years.
Every tube has it's own sound signature. Even so, I have them in my DAC, and that is what I hear. So, I guess I am a fan of tubes, as long as they are little ones in my DAC.
My friend has two lava lamps, Carver electronics and Double Advents, and a Members Only jacket.
Not sure if anyone mentioned that some tube amps may take a while to warm up and sound right after turned on.

I think tubes at the line stage level in the source or pre-amp rather than in the power amp are a lower impact way to get some of the merits of good tube sound while minimizing the exposure to some of the downsides mentioned. That's where I am with my system at present.