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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
mitch2
1,911 posts
 
Good point Raquel. While I sometimes keep my preamp and CD player powered up for days at a time, my hybrid amps get powered down at night or whenever I do not expect to be listening for most of the day. I would expect it to be a good idea to power down fully tubed amps for the reasons you state.
krauti OP
46 posts
 
As the original poster of this thread I actually like the fact that this thread has taken on it's own life. Think that's just what happens over time as once the downsides I've asked for have been stated thread drift sets in.

That some folks seem to find it necessary to ask what others may be "on" isn't what I had intended, but then again, I have no power over this thread and shouldn't. But hey, this is where that proverbial grain of salt may be helpful.

Raquel, thanks for a clear answer as to why tube amps shouldn't be run 24/7.

Well, it's a long weekend and as there's more to life than audio gear and so I shall try to catch a fish and check back later on the life this thread has taken on. In a way I agree that it has outlived it's usefullness as my questions have been answered and my decision is still the same. Hiho, hiho, and off to tubes I go, hiho hiho, hiho hiho......

Enjoy the long weekend
As far as how many times the same thing needs to repeated I think once or twice is good enough.
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shadorne
7,333 posts
 
Loose bass, forward midrange, bright glassy upper mids/lower highs, rolled off upper highs. Variable performance. Unreliable. High maintance. Difficult to get replacement parts. When they break, they offer the potential to break other links in the system. Excessive heat. Potential burns to children, pets and others. Can cause fires. Requires more care in placement. Limited to use with high impedance speakers. High cost per Watt. Greater sensitivity to speaker cables. Sensitive to vibrations.

Why all the fuss - most of this is quite true although it is a matter of degree. Perhaps Unsound paints an overly negative description for sure, but if you asked people to make a general list of all the cons against tubes they would probably come up with at least four or five items from Unsound's even longer list.

Of course there are a great many pros for tubes starting with their sweet organic, harmonically rich, engaging and musical sound but the OP didn't ask for that.
rodman99999
3,557 posts
 
Dopogue- I had always used Phillips ECGs for power tubes, until the prices and availability(you try and find a NOS, matched octet of KT88s or 6550s of anything, anywhere), made that unrealistic for me. I've been VERY pleased with the latest interation of the Winged 'C'(St petersburg) 6550s(from Upscale). Still- My system needs six 6922s(early 60's Siemens CCa for me), and four 6SN7s(1 pair each- 40's Tung Sol CTL/6SN7GT round plates and Sylvania CHS/6SN7W, tall bottles please) The presentation makes any time/effort to locate, or any money spent, well worth it.
chrissain
425 posts
 
In the last two years I have owned my first tube amps. rogue audio m150s. I too was afraid of all the bad things that can happen with tubes. so far they [the promblems ] have not happened. when I first got them an output tube blew within the first few days, and it just blew a fuse, no damage to anything else, and rogue replaced the tube for free. after that ,not a singe problem. they drive my revel f32s with ease. they are very easy to bias because they have a built in meter, and by changing the bias level, you change the sound of the amps, way cool ! same thing with changing tubes, if you want your solid state amp to sound different, you have to buy a whole new amp. I have tried all sorts of 12ax7 driver tubes, and the cheap as dirt sovtek 12ax7 lps sounds best in my system. so much for only the realy expensive tubes sound best bs. I have also tried 6 different solid state amps against the rogues and no one of them has had the body or 3d sound of the m150s. I love them , so good luck, and happy listening ! chrissain.
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