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In Reply to: RE: Audio Research LS-27 preamp tube replacement posted by audioman on February 25, 2017 at 15:38:53
Which is fine by me. AFAIK, there are three choices:
1. Current production Sovtek
2. Current production Sovtek with gold pins
3. NOS 6H30-DR
While the third choice is the best, they are quite pricey when you can find the genuine article. I have an SP20 and purchased a replacement set of choice 2 for when the time comes.
I'm with 3+4 in that my experience parallels his that small signal tubes don't seem to "wear out" like power tubes. I know when the 6550Cs are dying in my VTL amps because they require higher bias settings and eventually start taking out the B+ fuse.
I used to have a Manley DAC with a simple 12AU7 tube output and just for grins, left the tubes in for years. Seemed to not make much difference with that model. At around 4000 hours (ARC recommendation), I might try swapping out the original 6H30s with the new set and see if I can hear any difference.
We'll see...
Follow Ups:
While I now have several pieces of ARC gear that use the 6H30 I have only had one long enough to find out tube life on the 6H30.
My PH-6 phono stage definitely sounded tired after about 4000 hours. A new set of tubes brought back the magic. I would imagine the same will be true with the SP-20.
Generally ARC is pretty conservative on tube life and I can typically get good performance going beyond their recommended hours of use. But that has been with 6550 output tubes and 6922 small signal tubes. With the 6H30 I think they are correct on 4000 hours. Time to change.
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