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In Reply to: RE: cryo posted by mike1127 on May 19, 2012 at 23:52:49
Cryo companies generally charge by the pound. There is a national chain called "300 Below" that mostly does industrial stuff. There are a couple of places that cater to the audio market (assuming they are still in business). I have heard that it is bad to cryo electrolytic capacitors. Everything else is pretty much fair game. I have heard of people sending complete tube amps through (presumably less the electrolytic caps) but that would be quite expensive given the weight of the transformers. Never heard of anyone doing headphones. Detachable cables would be no problem, but I don't know about the rest of the 'phones -- headband, earpads, et cetera. You could always start with a cheap set as an experiment. Have fun!
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I've been treating them for over 12 years without incident, along with fully populated circuit boards, as has the facility I use (Cryogenics International).
... is it safe to cryo tubes? do they need special handling or techniques?
Completely safe, with two caveats.
Firstly, know that there are different cryogenic processes performed by differing companies, both as to the control method of ramp-down and ramp-up of temperature, and to the depth of temperature.
While I vastly prefer using a facility that treats materials at -320F (the sonic results are superior, imo), a facility that only went down to -295F or -300F would be acceptable as long as their ramp-down and ramp-up control was tight and extended (meaning very long and gradual). This ensures the materials will not be shocked by any rapid fluctuation of temperature.
Secondly, and especially on older NOS tubes, there is no guarantee that the vacuum seal on these tubes is perfect (and dependent on the adhesive used, if any), and therefore there could be a failure. It's not happened to me in the 12+ years of my experience, but it's always a possibility. This is not the fault of the cryogenic facility, but the fault of the original manufacturer. Just something to be aware of....
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