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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
rleff
1,065 posts
 
Kiwi-I think I would have to disagree with your view on bass and I am wondering if you have any experience with
tubes more than just listening to a friends system or auditioning
My question is based on "control over bass".
I consider control over bass as being a accurate reproduction with all the related properties that go along with it;and a tube amp is certainly capable of doing this
at least in my system and experiences.
I don't consider this as a downside over tubes.
rleff
1,065 posts
 
Krauti-I was wondering what is drawing you to this tube as I have never heard one.
krauti OP
46 posts
 
What is drawing me to this tube is very much some reviews of the amplifier in question and the sound supposedly being this "the singer's in the room with you".

I have to admit that the little brother of that amp, the Due Venti, did a marvelous job in my opinion and I have asked myself if I should get that one as it's available right where I live and would even cost me $500 less, new warranty and everything whereas the 300B I'm interested isn't new. On the other hand at least judging by the reviews I prefer the sound of the 300B based amp over the Due Venti with it's EL34's.

Decisions, decisions :)

If the 300B
hifisoundguy
630 posts
 
With tubes "these days" you never know how many hours your get out of tube before it goes bad....some can go bad with only a few hours on them! Solid State gear can be made to sound a lot better by putting hand weights on top of your gear and speakers...start by adding two twenty pound weights and (wait about a month and see if you like it). If you still don't like the sound just keep adding weights until you get the sound you like best.
jafox
1,348 posts
 
Ah nuts, had I only tried putting a Mack truck on my old PS Audio amp before I got into tube amps, I would have saved a lot of pain and suffering from the hassle of tube amps.
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