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AYON KT-SX Tube quality (failure rate?)

I bought a new/demo ("was only played at CES this Jan 2016...") AYON TRITON III from the US distributer this January.

Within 3 weeks 2 of the 8 KT88-SX tubes either expired or the amp complained about the tube. The vendor said: "90 days on new tubes..." ...which meant I was out of luck given his logic. New tubes cost around $180 or so.

I have either spoken with other Ayon owners on this or other forums, in private (after posting about Ayon) or when seeking to buy these tubes from them.

Guess what?

They have had the same failure rate.

Please weigh in: I am relatively new (1 year) to tube gear and have no idea if I should expect more monthly replacements. (I bought 3 matched quads of new Gold Lion KT88s, but the Ayons sound quite good to me, I just am appalled at the failure rates I experienced or heard about.)
128x128vicweast
vicweast's avatar
vicweast OP
148 posts
 
@jond  @ghosthouse 
The only tubes I have run in the Ayon so far are Ayon KT88-sx. I have NOT yet run the Gold Lions as they were my "backup plan" in case the rest of the Ayon KT88s fizzed or burped or otherwise committed suicide.
vicweast's avatar
vicweast OP
148 posts
 
@jond Ayon KT88-sx are called "treasure" tubes by the US distributer. I have a sneaking feeling I know what he means: First my treasure, then his booty as I buy replacements. But that is pure speculation on my part and not really what I intended in my post: I really just want to hear from others if they have had similar failure rates with this brand of tube... hello?
jond's avatar
jond
3,400 posts
 
Understood and I don't own nor have I any experience with Ayon amps or tubes, very likely a bad batch of tubes they received as swampwalker suggests above. And by "treasure" it probably actually means they are Shuguang Treasure tubes from China which enjoy a great rep for sound quality, not sure about reliability.
ghosthouse's avatar
ghosthouse
3,718 posts
 
Sorry Vic, I misunderstood what tubes were failing.  Thought the Ayon tubes were re-labelled Gold Lions.  I agree with jond's guess about the identity of the Ayon stock "Treasure" tubes.  Given the stock tubes are something other than Gold Lion, I'd definitely be pulling them and plugging in those Gold Lions.  If they run OK then you will know it's bad tube quality and not the amp.  By the way, looking up the Ayon amp on-line I see bias is listed as both automatic AND manual.  Not sure how that works but if you are able, check the bias.  A check and adjustment of bias is always recommended prior to installing new tubes.  Apologies if this is something you already know.  Good luck getting things sorted out.
paladin's avatar
paladin
211 posts
 
Ayon is the Bugatti of audio & best of show for 7 years, but only if you change the tubes or oil once a month @ $500.
Definitely - Not my cup of tea.
I would stay far, far away from these guys & their hype!
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