I was wondering. What will one hear when a valve fails?
Vailure of valves
...or not.
?
?
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...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.
So... does the playing volume affect the lifespan?
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.
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.warrenpridgeon wrote: So... does the playing volume affect the lifespan?
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.