How often to change the tubes on the Schiit Lyr? - Page 2

Quote:

Originally Posted by cactus_farmer 

 

So if an unstable voltage by chance goes through the tubes of the amp, or the tubes I put in there are (unknown to me) badly constructed - there is a chance that those tubes could damage the Lyr and/or the headphones plugged into it?

 

And, even if the tubes are good, as the tubes in the amp get older and older, the power output of the amp gets less and less, right?

That means if using a headphone that is very hard to drive, such as the HE-6, the loss in power could cause the amplifier to strain and cause clipping, damaging the headphones?

 

Man, there's just so many pitfalls to navigate with the tube business - but then again, the Lyr is the only reasonably priced headphone amplifier (not resorting to speaker amplifiers) that can drive the HE-6!!

I can't lie, there's always a chance...but on the whole, if the tube goes bad, you won't get any sound in the channel, the sound will change noticeably, or you will get static coming through the headphones...the headphones and amp should be unharmed (if the Lyr is harmed, there is that 5-year warranty to keep in mind).  Your headphones will not explode taking your hearing with it...especially the HD-6.  I would consider two things...one, there are a bunch of us with Lyrs out here who have never had an issue with tubes or the amp.  Two, I have rolled over fifty sets of tubes through my Lyr with no problems or issues.  I had a single set of tubes give me static in one channel.  That was remedied by simply switching the tubes around in their sockets.  That was one set out of over fifty.  I listen to the Lyr an average of 20 hours a week and I have never had a problem.

Lastly, Mike and Jason were veteran amp builders with great reputations even before they formed their "Schitty" little company.  Jason is especially responsive to e-mails at info@schiit.com.  If you still have your doubts, drop him a line and maybe he can put your worries at ease.

He did mine.

Oh, did I tell you the Lyr was only the second tube amp I ever owned?  ...and the first I ever rolled tubes in?  Believe me, you aren't the first person that ever had these concerns.  Sometimes you just gotta take the plunge...and with a quality amp like the Lyr, it's worth it.

Cheers!

-HK sends

PS - ...and if you are still worried, I have a couple sets of tubes I can probably send you...for backups.

Just for the record:

This is my system: Toshiba laptop as digital source, feeding the Schiit BiFrost DAC, up to the Lyr, and out to my LCD-3s.

LCD-3s, Bifrost and Lyr.  The tubes stand proud of the Lyr because I am using "Socket Savers" from Tubemonger.  The tube dampers are from Herbie's Audio.

My "Head-Fi" drawers that hold my interconnects, XM6 Portable DAC/Amp and...

15 sets of tubes for backup or just changing the sound quality of the music I listen to.  You also see a set of "Triode Flippers" from TubeMonger that may or may not extend the life of your tubes.  I haven't used my tubes long enough to find out yet...even at 20 odd hours per week of listening.  You also see a "Tube Glove" I got from Amazon.com to help me pull the tubes.

Enjoy!

-HK sends

Quote:

Originally Posted by cactus_farmer 

Thanks.

 

Can you tell me the exact model of socketsaver you're using (is there only one)?

 

What are the benefits of using them, asides from making the tubes easier to insert and remove?

 

Do the socket savers themselves just literally plug into the tube socket in the amp - ie. no soldering/unscrewing of the headphone amp?

 

Also, how do you know which way to plug the tubes/socketsaver in? Is there a positive and negative end clearly labeled out - or is it just luck? You said some static resulted when you plugged a tube in the wrong way round, so this raises concern for me... is there a way to tell that you've inserted it in the right way?

Sorry, didn't mean to confuse you.  The nine pin tubes only plug in one way, there's a gap where the tenth pin would have been...it'll be obvious when you see the sockets and the tubes.  When I said I plugged the tube in and got static, I simply moved it from one amp socket to the other...switching the tubes.  The problem disappeared and didn't come back.  I figure it was just a little corrosion on one of the pins that got cleaned off when I swapped the tubes around...no worries.

I got the socket savers here:

http://www.tubemonger.com/NOVIB_Socket_Saver_with_Vibration_Red_B9A_NOVAL_p/novib.htm

You just plug the tubes in the savers and plug the savers into the amp sockets.  As for being useful, other than making easier to pull the tubes from the amp...probably not that useful.  They definitely aren't necessary (I used the Lyr for months without them).

Hope this helps...

Cheers!

-HK sends