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i was wondering will tubes last longer in an amp that you are running at very low volume at home?

lets say a pair of KT88's running at 2-3 on the master volume?
would that substatialy increase the tube life?

would anyone tell me how long these tubes last for roughly?

thanks!

This depends on many factors. Power amp stage: Tubes life will be affected by how hard they're working. Home playing volumes will probably last longer than the same amount of working time playing live at 8-9 level. But. And ther's always a but. If its a class A style amp, then even just having the amp on, it's working them tubes 100% anyhow. regardless of how much the speaker is moving.

Heat, type of amp, ventilation, etc will all have a hand in things, even number of on/off switchings will be involved.

In the larger scheme of things, pre-amp tubes should last much longer. (quite a few years) Power tubes less so (2-3 years in the bedroom, or much longer even)

I'd say that preserving tubes is not worth it. Get a nice set in there, a back up set on the shelf. And rock as you wish. Don't baby the valves. Work 'em. Go to eurotubes.com , get the JJ's, they're not expensive and are consumables... like the tyres on a car... their cost doesn't prevent driving to the coast.

matzos

the amp is a class A/B

then, mostprobably it runs cathode biased at about 70%. Sometimes a tube can last 10 times the expected number of hours, or 10 %! Thats where variables in manufacturing has hurt modern products. In the old days the valves were used in military and medical, where failure and unpredictable performance was not an option... These days, amp makers will rather pop in robust (fairly) reliable valves, in favour of nice sounding, delicate ones. Think Chinese or Sovtek. Get your valves from someplace that pre-checks and grades them.

thanks man for all the info. i was just wondering since i will be playing the sucker at home and hence it will be played low.
the valves will be KT88's the amp will be a VHT Deliverance. dont know where they get their tubes from. i suppose they should be pretty good.

i was used to Marshall crap that lasted me only a year each time.