Vailure of valves

RobbieZ

I was wondering. What will one hear when a valve fails?

AlanRatcliffe

...or not.

?

AlanRatcliffe

But seriously, while they will usually die (and cause the silence I hinted at above), they do usually deteriorate through their lifespan, losing quality of sound. I usually find that I want to change them after a year (power valves an PI anyway), because they don't sound as good - even if they can last another year.

warrenpridgeon

Alan Ratcliffe wrote: But seriously, while they will usually die (and cause the silence I hinted at above), they do usually deteriorate through their lifespan, losing quality of sound. I usually find that I want to change them after a year (power valves an PI anyway), because they don't sound as good - even if they can last another year.

I've had my DSL401 for a good couple of years and have never revalved... tho...I have usually played at lower volumes due to the nature of my "gigging"... When my amp was fixed by JP a couple months back he tested the valves and said they were still fine for now...

So... does the playing volume affect the lifespan?

needleshy

I had a power tube failure on Tuesday evening. .... there was a deterioration of sound and volume oscillation, a flashing tube in the rear followed by the amp shutting down(blue and red flames in tubes=bad). ... the fuse blew. Just got replacement valves and a couple of fuses and its working fine now.

AlanRatcliffe

warrenpridgeon wrote: So... does the playing volume affect the lifespan?

Absolutely. That's why attenuators sometimes get a bad rap for being hard on valves - it's not that they are hard themselves per se, it's more that you are able to run the power amp louder, while keeping the volume down.

It also depends on your tonal taste - I like a real percussive, snappy attack, so I hear the softness of well worn-in valves as a bad thing.