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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
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!
vicweast's avatar
vicweast OP
148 posts
 
@ghosthouse
Indeed, I intend to replace the Ayon tubes with the Gold Lions after another few weeks. This will make for better statistics that might be skewed by "shipping" or "infant mortality", that should be ample time to experience either no or further tube failure.

After that time passes, I will run the Gold Lions for a few months to see if there is continued failure (I do not expect it — but I am wary, hence posting here.
vicweast's avatar
vicweast OP
148 posts
 
@paladin 
Your take on Ayon strikes me as quite harsh. What experience do you have or know about? I am very curious as to what lies behind your statement.

sksos1
385 posts
 
Be warned "only played at CES". My friend bought one of their CD players "demo from review" when he got it the serial number was different from the reviews sn. Warning regarding bate and switch. 
ghosthouse's avatar
ghosthouse
3,718 posts
 
Vic - what's the story on biasing for the Ayon?  Is it mainly auto but allows some manual tweaking or override?  Proper bias obviously critical to maximizing tube life.  Again, good luck.
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