Rerurn to Romy the Cat's Site
In the Forum: Audio Discussions
In the Thread: Initial thoughts about new/old Lamm ML2s
Post Subject: So much for "10,000 hours"...Posted by Paul S on: 8/30/2008
I have been fighting the electricity and getting off-track enough to find it wearying, not to mention the silliness with the tubes. The other day I happened to drop a double album and it hit dead flat on the carpeted floor. The mute was off and I distinctly heard the album hit the floor through the right speaker.
Lightly tapping the amps in turn, I was very annoyed to find that my specially-selected "10,000 hour" NOS Telefunken "ribbies" have gotten microphonic, and further checking revealed that they have also gotten noisy, as well, after about 1 1/2 years of weekend listening!
I checked my tube stash and found some substitutes. The back-up pair of ribbies was not nearly as good as the first pair, so I am presently using some culled GE 5751s while I wait for some more that are supposed to be better. These tubes are not especially good; but they aren't bad, either.
I did enjoy the quiet from the new tubes, listened to the Mercury Rigoletto straight through, like a nice, calming shot of morphine.
I draw no conclusions from any of this, except that I have to stay conscious of the way the tubes behave; I can't just plug them in and forget them; not even "10,000 hour" tubes.
Paul SRerurn to Romy the Cat's Site