Tube Amp Newbie

[Bolivarjoy]

Later this week I have a VAC 200 IQ amp arriving to be paired with my Grimm MU2. It is my first foray into the tube world. I'm inviting some helpful advice from seasoned tube audiophiles.

I'm looking for real beginner information. If someone can point me to a thread with this in it I would appreciate it.

Some of my questions at the moment are:
1. Does the "cage" that sits over the tubes help control heat? Do most people keep the tubes covered or uncovered...pros and cons of doing so?
2. Is it wise to have at least one tube of each kind on hand in case of an emergency failure?
3. What can people tell me about break-in time or warm up time...does it vary from amp to amp, are there some tried and true rules of thumb?

Thanks, Greg in MD

 

[A-Line]

Greetings

I've been involved with tubes most of my life.

I've backup tubes for all of my tube components.

Certain tubes that I use for my preamp are no longer available so I've lots of backup tubes to last me until the end.

I have a tube cage for my McIntosh MC2102, the rest of my tube components are covered by the normal case housing. Tube cages are used for protecting the tubes- they're glass. No sonic benefits for using a tube cage. I always use my tube cage. McIntosh uses certain technology to control the heat distribution, the cage itself does nothing to control heat.

Tubes get hot so wait until they've cooled down before handling them. Always use a cloth or a cloth type glove to handle tubes. If your tubes are self biasing then simply replace as needed, otherwise you'll need a volt meter to set the bias on your tubes. This is the case with my MC2102 where manual biasing is required.

Tube testers are about 50% accurate most of the time. I use my ears to listen for distortion or some other anomaly as a indicator for tube issues.

Just a few thoughts to get you started. Hope this helps.

 

[DasguteOhr]

Welcome here
If you have small children or animals at home, please leave the cage on. Tubes have a temperature of 200-300 degrees. Don't buy replacement tubes or NOS types from dubious dealers. I can recommend BTB in Germany; they give a guarantee on tubes.

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Tube amplifiers are fully operational after 15 minutes, after which all operating voltages and currents have stabilized. New tubes will probably reach their full potential after 50-70 hours

 

[hifilife]

The best bit tube amp advice I've ever heard was to have a full new, replacement tube set on hand at all times. If you ever wonder if the tubes in your amp are getting old, you just pop the new set in. If you don't hear a difference, the other tubes are probably fine and you should put them back in. You're going to buy a replacement set at some point anyway, so you might as well buy them early so you can use them for diagnostics.

I also second the advice of buying tubes from a reputable seller. I bought two sets of EH KT88s from a questionable dealer during the Ukraine war tube shortage and two of them red plated within 500 hours of use (I log the hours, so this number is accurate).

 

[Kingrex]

I don't know how good the VAC tubes are I like KT88 as they are affordable. You have a couple of selection on KT88.

The Shuguang hidden treasure niversary Is a nice tube. A lot of soundstage and vibrancy.
JJ are solid and quiet.
Genelax gold lion are more percussive than Shuguang. But not as much air and life.

The pre tubes do a lot. Try some Telefunken and Amprex. You will eventually find what pairs with your system and room.

 

[Bolivarjoy]

Thank you for the input.

Yes, the VAC 200 IQ is self biasing...
I like to be prepared and so wondered about a replacement set. I wrote Kevin at VAC who quoted me the following for this amp:

2 matched pair of Gold Lion KT88, $600 ($300/pair)
4 TungSol 6SN7GTB, $300 ($75 each)

 

[Holmz]

Later this week I have a VAC 200 IQ amp arriving to be paired with my Grimm MU2. It is my first foray into the tube world. I'm inviting some helpful advice from seasoned tube audiophiles.

I'm looking for real beginner information. If someone can point me to a thread with this in it I would appreciate it.

Some of my questions at the moment are:
1. Does the "cage" that sits over the tubes help control heat? Do most people keep the tubes covered or uncovered...pros and cons of doing so?

Keeps cats from pissing on the tubes, and children from playing with them.
If you have a Batchelor pad or no kids and like the ambiance, then leave them off.

2. Is it wise to have at least one tube of each kind on hand in case of an emergency failure?

Yeah - but pairs also make sense.
They generally last a long time.

3. What can people tell me about break-in time or warm up time...does it vary from amp to amp, are there some tried and true rules of thumb?

Thanks, Greg in MD

Just fire it up and get stuck into it.
Waiting 5 minutes is good and that gives time to put stuff down… etc.
Some people claim that leaving them on for an hour is better, but it is not that magical.