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Re: Chris' Nasties

65.70.144.97

I don't believe that ARC drives the output tubes hard in the VT100. The design calls for no more than 60% of the rated output of the 6550. That is a pretty conservative design and would assure long service on the output tubes. Couple this with the controlled start-up and shut-up features of the PS, and you have an amp that will give you many thousands of hours of tube life.

Many things can contribute to output tube service life. Good design is just the start. How well is the amp ventilated in the users environment? What kind of load is the amp driving? If it is a terribly inefficient speaker, and the user requires high SPL output, then output tubes will expire more quickly. The amp is working at or near maximum output for a considerable amount of time. Something like the VT100 with Magnepan 3.6 might be a good example. Nothing wrong with either piece, just the nature of the marriage. Perhaps one would only get 2000 hours from a set of Svetlanas. Still very good tube life.

Using the amp with a much more efficient speaker would work in the other way, perhaps giving you 3,4, maybe 5000 hours of tube life.

So the question really is how is the amp being used, and what are the users expectations? Anything will last a long time if it is rarely used. For someone like me, it gets used every day, coupled with efficient speakers, and output tubes last a good 5-6 years. I am not complaining.


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  • Re: Chris' Nasties - kentaja@yahoo.com 08:25:27 04/09/03 (0)


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