Can some cat amp users tell me how long the cat jl2mk2 tubes last before they require replacement and what do they cost, its the replacement and life of the tubes which gives me this mental block from changing my SS dart 8550 to tubes and moreover what makes the most difference the speaker or the amp.Thanks in advance.
life of tubes
- Thread starter jasbirnandra
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I can't tell you how long they will last, but power output tubes generally last around 2000 hours. Depending on where you buy your tubes, count on spending around $1000 to retube this amp. IMO, speakers are more important than the amp, not that the amp isn't important.
Mark's answer on lifetime is as good as any. Lifetime depends very heavily upon biasing, which varies considerably with amp design (I do not know what CAT uses).
Regarding speakers vs. amp, my answer is usually speakers, but woth the caveat that tube amps are generally much more sensitive to speaker loads than SS amps. For example, speakers that vary wildly in impedance and present a difficult dynamic load can be problematic for tube amps due to their higher output impedance. A tube amp is not a great choice for driving a big dynamic woofer or subwoofer, nor the top end of a large electrostatic system, IMO.
Regarding speakers vs. amp, my answer is usually speakers, but woth the caveat that tube amps are generally much more sensitive to speaker loads than SS amps. For example, speakers that vary wildly in impedance and present a difficult dynamic load can be problematic for tube amps due to their higher output impedance. A tube amp is not a great choice for driving a big dynamic woofer or subwoofer, nor the top end of a large electrostatic system, IMO.
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If you read Ralph Karsten's posting a while back, ss amps run into trouble at higher loads vs. lower loads for tubes. OTOH, my cjs sound just peachy on my MLs.
I figured my comments would generate some sort of firestorm...
Technically, tubes have a rather limited range of ideal load impedances due to the output transformer. Not sure why SS amps would have trouble with higher loads unless they are unstable (e.g. poorly designed). Both will struggle with very low loads, tubes more so than SS usually. Their higher output impedance also means tubes have more difficulty controlling loads that kick back large amounts of charge into the amp. Last time I checked, many years ago, tubes held their output impedance and feedback factor closer to constant than SS, which tend to roll-off the feedback and thus raise their output impedance at HF.
Theoretically, a single tube has a lower distortion characterize (factorial) than a bipolar transistor (exponential), and an ideal MOSFET has the lowest intrinsic distortion (square law).
IME, tube sound fantastic on 'stats, but the very high end and very low end struggles, for very different reasons of course.
Technically, tubes have a rather limited range of ideal load impedances due to the output transformer. Not sure why SS amps would have trouble with higher loads unless they are unstable (e.g. poorly designed). Both will struggle with very low loads, tubes more so than SS usually. Their higher output impedance also means tubes have more difficulty controlling loads that kick back large amounts of charge into the amp. Last time I checked, many years ago, tubes held their output impedance and feedback factor closer to constant than SS, which tend to roll-off the feedback and thus raise their output impedance at HF.
Theoretically, a single tube has a lower distortion characterize (factorial) than a bipolar transistor (exponential), and an ideal MOSFET has the lowest intrinsic distortion (square law).
IME, tube sound fantastic on 'stats, but the very high end and very low end struggles, for very different reasons of course.
Hello, jasbirnandra. While I will not get into the tube and SS discussion [I prefer SS amplification], I can offer you my observations on the amp versus the speakers and which one makes more of a difference. In my experience, speakers, speakers, speakers. Did I mention speakers?
Although, I will add one caveat. Everything affects everything.
Although, I will add one caveat. Everything affects everything.
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