[DrDen]

I am very glad to report that my dealer has now agreed to supply a brand new amp. I have had to pay an additional fee on the original demo price but this is ok with me if it means getting a brand new one. Still not sure if I will stay with tube long term yet, although I have found a local service engineer who works with tube amps, this is reassuring if I were to need out of warranty repairs.

There is military belief that shell(bomb) never falls twice in the same place
Good luck!

 

[DrDen]

Audiophile(samurai) has no goal, only path…
My path is tubes (or serpentine road from tube to tube). Moving forward slowly you can breathe in fresh air and see the endless sky above.
Being translated into audio that means listening to beautiful music in its natural beauty.
JSBach’s harpsichord concertos are celestial.

 

[mudguardiain]

There is military belief that shell(bomb) never falls twice in the same place
Good luck!

Hopefully all will be ok with the new amp, I will run the stock tubes for a while before buying anymore, already ruined two pairs of tubes + the original stock tubes. I was getting seriously frustrated, not good on my wallet either. Not had confirmation of when I will receive it but at least I know it’s coming.

 

[betula]

Just one last thought to mudguardiain's repair saga. I would rather buy a 2 year old second-hand anything versus a 4-6 months old ex-demo unit. A two year old product from a good home has probably seen less abuse by one person than a few months old ex-demo amp where who knows how many dozens of people plugged and unplugged cables, used the switches constantly and so on.

 

[mudguardiain]

Just one last thought to mudguardiain's repair saga. I would rather buy a 2 year old second-hand anything versus a 4-6 months old ex-demo unit. A two year old product from a good home has probably seen less abuse by one person than a few months old ex-demo amp where who knows how many dozens of people plugged and unplugged cables, used the switches constantly and so on.

It’s fair comment, buying a demo tube amp was probably not the best choice in hindsight. I have bought ex demo kit before and been happy with it. Hopefully the new amp proves reliable. May even sound a little better. Ever before the tubes went bad I thought the right channel sounded slightly off, occasionally the bass felt a tiny bit distorted after a week or so of fitting the new tubes. I guess if the tubes were degrading by 50% after 60 hours then they were probably past their best quite quickly.

 

[betula]

It’s fair comment, buying a demo tube amp was probably not the best choice in hindsight. I have bought ex demo kit before and been happy with it. Hopefully the new amp proves reliable. May even sound a little better. Ever before the tubes went bad I thought the right channel sounded slightly off, occasionally the bass felt a tiny bit distorted after a week or so of fitting the new tubes. I guess if the tubes were degrading by 50% after 60 hours then they were probably past their best quite quickly.

It is possible to run into some completely fine ex-demo stuff, but the risks are higher and not necessarily outweighed by the discount for me. An older but cared for second-hand unit seems a safer bet. That's all.

 

[feverfive]

^^Yep, true that... Risk mitigation WRT used/demo stuff is a tough one (for me anyway) to figure. I am surprised sometimes by how minimal the "discount" is for used/open box/demo gear in general, even looking through the head-fi Classifieds, historically speaking. That's why I very rarely buy used. I'd rather buy new than save say, 10%, for example. And I rarely have interest in discontinued stuff; I'm not a collector-type of person. YMMV.

 

[mudguardiain]

^^Yep, true that... Risk mitigation WRT used/demo stuff is a tough one (for me anyway) to figure. I am surprised sometimes by how minimal the "discount" is for used/open box/demo gear in general, even looking through the head-fi Classifieds, historically speaking. That's why I very rarely buy used. I'd rather buy new than save say, 10%, for example. And I rarely have interest in discontinued stuff; I'm not a collector-type of person. YMMV.

I have had a couple of good second hand purchases, best one was a Garrard 401 for £1 at a car boot sale. My Icon HP8 was second hand and that was always ok.

 

[LetTheKidsTechno]

^^Yep, true that... Risk mitigation WRT used/demo stuff is a tough one (for me anyway) to figure. I am surprised sometimes by how minimal the "discount" is for used/open box/demo gear in general, even looking through the head-fi Classifieds, historically speaking. That's why I very rarely buy used. I'd rather buy new than save say, 10%, for example. And I rarely have interest in discontinued stuff; I'm not a collector-type of person. YMMV.

I've only ever purchased used and have saved a considerable amount of money doing so. The discounts for used products are far greater than 10% and I find most audiophiles take good care of their gear. Demo units definitely scare me though. I usually review a users profile to see previous sales/purchases and make a judgement call through asking the right questions. But to each their own. Buying new removes the guess work and is a sure thing, so I can definitely see the appeal if your wallet affords it.

 

[Hickory Deadglove]

I've only ever purchased used and have saved a considerable amount of money doing so. The discounts for used products are far greater than 10% and I find most audiophiles take good care of their gear. Demo units definitely scare me though. I usually review a users profile to see previous sales/purchases and make a judgement call through asking the right questions. But to each their own. Buying new removes the guess work and is a sure thing, so I can definitely see the appeal if your wallet affords it.

I buy things with moving parts (EX CD player) new. Electronic things used or demo. If one buy used, one don't know if the previous owner have buy it new or demo.
Oh, my best deal: Pro-ac tablette 3 for $9 at a thrift shop. One not working, recap both and enjoy them since.

 

[mudguardiain]

Just one last thought to mudguardiain's repair saga. I would rather buy a 2 year old second-hand anything versus a 4-6 months old ex-demo unit. A two year old product from a good home has probably seen less abuse by one person than a few months old ex-demo amp where who knows how many dozens of people plugged and unplugged cables, used the switches constantly and so on.

I am pleased to say that my dealer has been very helpful following the need to return my amp for a second time & has now sent me the brand new amp. What I had not realised is even when the old amp appeared to be working fine it was not actually sounding as good as it should. The replacement (currently with stock power tubes & Gold Lion 12AU7) is clearly better, even without any burn in time. I was skeptical that I would keep the amp long term after the issues I had, but the first sessions with the new amp were really positive and hopefully reliability will not be an issue moving forward.

 

[WailingBanshee]

I am pleased to say that my dealer has been very helpful following the need to return my amp for a second time & has now sent me the brand new amp. What I had not realised is even when the old amp appeared to be working fine it was not actually sounding as good as it should. The replacement (currently with stock power tubes & Gold Lion 12AU7) is clearly better, even without any burn in time. I was skeptical that I would keep the amp long term after the issues I had, but the first sessions with the new amp were really positive and hopefully reliability will not be an issue moving forward.

Thankfully in your case you have access to a local dealer and can skip the shipping costs. Glad to hear it worked out in the end.

Let us know if you dive deeper into tube rolling. I'll share some of my own impressions sometime in the future, but too many tubes to try right now and not enough time!

 

[mudguardiain]

Thankfully in your case you have access to a local dealer and can skip the shipping costs. Glad to hear it worked out in the end.

Let us know if you dive deeper into tube rolling. I'll share some of my own impressions sometime in the future, but too many tubes to try right now and not enough time!

I received a replacement matched Gold Lion today to replace the one that went bad in the old amp. Will stick with these for a while but no doubt will be tempted by some NOS tubes moving forward. Will run the amp for a while to make sure all is good. Have got some Reflektor 6V6 as spares but prefer the Gold Lions, seem very good compared to the stock tubes.

 

[WailingBanshee]

I received a replacement matched Gold Lion today to replace the one that went bad in the old amp. Will stick with these for a while but no doubt will be tempted by some NOS tubes moving forward. Will run the amp for a while to make sure all is good. Have got some Reflektor 6V6 as spares but prefer the Gold Lions, seem very good compared to the stock tubes.

It is tempting indeed. I didn't last more than 2 weeks before making my first order of NOS tubes! Not like the stock tubes were bad. They were actually quite good with my Hifiman headphones. Curiosity just got the best of me I guess. I avoided tube amps for years because of this very reason lol.

 

[jonathan c]

It is tempting indeed. I didn't last more than 2 weeks before making my first order of NOS tubes! Not like the stock tubes were bad. They were actually quite good with my Hifiman headphones. **Curiosity just got the best of me I guess. I avoided tube amps for years because of this very reason lol.**

** the journey of 10,000 tubes starts with a single pair ...