Tube life on Seduction

[qlareau]

I've had my Seduction for a little over a year now, and since it's my first piece of tube gear I'm not sure how long the tubes are supposed to last. I can hear noticeable distortion in my audio that wasn't there a year ago. I have also lost some high end, making records that sounded crisp and balanced when i last listened to them now sound muffled and bassy. I'm guessing its time I replaced my tubes, but before I do I just wanted to pop on here to see what some more experienced bottleheads had to say. If you guys think its time to replace the tubes, do you have any recommendations as to where to get them? And would there be an upgrade to the 6DJ8s that the Seduction ships with? Just curious what input you might have, thx!

[Paul Birkeland]

Standard practice would be to keep a new pair around, then to pop them in every six months or so to see if the new pair's performance surpasses the ones you've been using.  If so, then you know to retube. 

Look for old stock European 7308's and 6922's as upgrades, although these can get spendy.

[qlareau]

thx for the advice!

[Paul Joppa]

You can repeat the voltage checks to see if the tube's operating point has drifted; that's a sign that the cathode's emission is fading. Check terminals 27, 37, 32, and 42 for plate voltage. Also check terminal 9 for the heater voltage. Seduction runs a little low here, to extend the tube's life, but a low power line voltage for example might pull that voltage too low for proper operation. I would say that 6.0 volts is the target, and 5.7 volts is as low as you want to go. If you have actual 6DJ8s and the voltage is below 5.7 volts, get some 6922s - they draw a bit less current which will raise that voltage.

Do you leave the preamp on all the time? That would be nearly 9000 hours in a year, which is a decent lifetime for small-signal tubes. I would expect a really good tube to last quite a bit longer than that, but finding such a tube gets harder every year.

[qlareau]

Yeah, I should probably check the voltages, I haven't done that since I originally assembled it.

No I usually turn it off when I'm done listening to my vinyl. Every once in awhile I accidentally leave it on overnight, but I would guestimate somewhere near 1000 hours of usage on the original tubes the kit ships with.

after I test I'll report back with the results

sidenote: did some quick google searching and TCTubes.com looks like a good place to replenish tubes, here's the link: http://tctubes.com/6DJ8-6922-ECC88-E88CC-CCa.aspx [nofollow]

[Paul Birkeland]

1000 hours is insignificant for a 6922 being operated in the Seduction.  I would easily expect 15,000-50,000 hours out of such a tube.  Has anything else changed?  Other tubes in the system?

It certainly wouldn't hurt to buy a 2nd pair of EH's and see maybe if you got a funky tube with your Seduction. 

[paulw]

I think my Seduction is about 5 years old now and I used, from new JJ E88CC tubes, I'm still on the first set & based on my listening patterns would estimate they have about 3500hrs on the clock - I've not had the urge to change these yet and they still measure as new.

Paul

[Grainger49]

   .  .  .    No I usually turn it off when I'm done listening to my vinyl. Every once in awhile I accidentally leave it on overnight, but I would guestimate somewhere near 1000 hours of usage on the original tubes the kit ships with.

. . . sidenote: did some quick google searching and TCTubes.com looks like a good place to replenish tubes, here's the link: http://tctubes.com/6DJ8-6922-ECC88-E88CC-CCa.aspx

About the above in red, that is most of us.  I have a PLC that powers my turntable.  I leave it on after listening more often than turning it off.  But it doesn't harm it.  I do USUALLY remember to turn off my Seduction.

Tube rolling is pretty easy and you can buy a box of tubes off of the bay for $100.  There are some out there that will cost $100 for a pair.  But I found buying tubes for $15/pr delivered was an eyeopening experience.  I have some Toshiba tubes that are not great but not bad that I bought that way.  They roll in my Seduction every so often.

Here are few of the sites that sell tubes that I have book marked:

The Tube Store


Antique Electronic Supply


Eurotubes (JJ US Distributer) Buy the T shirt for sure!


Tube World Call him when you want some really nice tubes, but not cheap tubes.


Tube Depot