Questions about vacuum tube amplifiers

                                        Questions about vacuum tube amplifiers

Vacuum tube amplifiers are a fascinating thing, as many old audiophiles like vinyl systems, they are very flexible. We sort out the questions that most people have and share them with you!

Tube machine to warm up?

In fact, the tube machine will reach a temperature that can operate normally within a minute or so after starting up. However, you will find that the sound will be better after 15 to 20 minutes.

 Can the tube machine run all day?

We strongly recommend that the tube machine should not be turned on all day, but turned on when it is in use, and turned off when it is not in use. If it is turned on for a long time without shutting down, it may cause problems such as overheating of the power supply or failure of pipe consumption...etc.

What should I do if there is a hum or background noise?

There are usually two situations: one is caused by the pipe, and the other is the influence from the source end or the surrounding environment. There are probably several ways to debug the hum or background noise:

Shut down first, then unplug the signal cable, and then turn it on again to see if there is any hum or background noise.

Move the amplifier away from places where there are many frequencies, such as mobile phones, Wi-Fi, base stations, etc. The tube picks up those frequencies and sends them to the amplifier. Especially amplifiers of high-impedance design may encounter such a situation.

Environmental vibration will also cause some impact, which can be resolved through shock-absorbing treatment.

Sometimes simply cleaning out the pins on the vacuum tube with an alcohol swab will do the trick.

Swap the tube left and right to see if the noise follows, it means that the tube itself is degraded.

Replace it with a new tube.

Try moving the amp to another wall outlet, sometimes the noise comes from a wall outlet that is not properly grounded.

How long do vacuum tubes last?

In the case of Manley's products, the tubes they use usually have a life span of 5000 to 9000 hours. Modern new tubes will be longer. The drive tube usually has 9000 hours, and the power tube has about 5000 hours. The efficiency of vacuum tubes will decrease over the end of life, and the tubes usually do not die immediately.

What are the risks of old pipes?

One of the great joys of using tube amps is buying vintage tubes to listen to. The obsession of old audiophiles to the charm of old pipes is very strong, the reason is that the color of the old taste brings a high sense of pleasure to music listening.

However, there are a few things you should pay attention to when choosing an old tube:

For the old tubes on the Internet or in physical channels, you can't actually know the exact use time of the tubes, and you can't know how many hands the tubes have passed. When it comes to your hands, you probably have to be mentally prepared to be exhausted in the short term.

The price of rare old tubes is usually higher, please do what you can when buying, and also take into account the remaining lifespan we just mentioned, please be mentally prepared when buying.