I said it gets "kind of hot." Which it does
I stand by my original statement, it gets warm not hot.
Electronics usually like to be cool, so while saying it doesn't "need" more venting may be accurate, more venting could potentially prolong its life. Not everyone uses such things in a well-ventilated, 70-degree A/C'd space, either.
As stated, heat is not an issue so it is completely irrelevent, but hey whatever floats your boat.
That adapter may only be a "whopping" $3, but it also adds an extra cable, and that can affect the sound
Here is the solution for you:
https://www.amazon.com/BesYee-2-Pack-conductor-female-adapter/dp/B0177DCOIS/ref=sr_1_5?s=audio-video-accessories&ie=UTF8&qid=1468435639&sr=1-5&keywords=1+8+female+to+1+8+male+adapter
And a picture if the link doesn't work
Slim, slim, slim, gold plated, lookee no cables, what a bargain only $8 for two.
You say bypassing the tubes would be silly because it's a tube amp. What's silly is not considering someone may want the power for the price while not necessarily caring whether it has tubes or not
Your right it's not silly, it's downright ridiculous
not wanting to possibly have to replace two tubes every 500-1000 hours. Mine will probably be left on 100+ hours a week. If using two of the better recommended tubes, every year the tubes cost the same price as the amp did, or more. After two years of use, the cost usage of the amp would be around $150 or more and continue to rise. If so, there's other amps to consider in the $150+ range that someone may or may not prefer.
First of all most tubes (excluding the chinese junk & maybe the modern tubes ( I don't know because I never use them)), including NOS miniatures are usually rated for 5000hours & some @ 10000hours (especially military).
So 5000/100 = 50 weeks, roughly a year say. Worst case I think you would be spending $20 per year per set. Big bucks.
Incidentally my main power amp has tubes in the preamp & SS in the output just like this one. In this application I dont think It is
working that hard. In the last 7 years or more I have only had to replace 1 tube. I do not expect to be changing tubes like you are suggesting & are just making a mountain out of a molehill.
I have multiple 1/4-1/8 adapters. They don't fit.
I put my Fostex 3.5mm cable in there. It fits, but it's small and needs to be tweezered a bit when trying to remove it.
See above, not an issue
You say the recesses have been perfectly designed for said adapters. Well, my generic adapters don't fit, and my Takstar adapters don't fit, and my Sennheiser adapters don't fit, so I don't think the recess is perfectly designed.
OK, I will rephrase that "it's been nicely designed to fit most peoples headphone jacks and/or adapters, for those that do have problems, see above"
You know it's interesting, if you go to Amazon there are 68 reviews of this amp, mostly good, but if you look at the complaints not 1 single person has any issues with heat or adaptors, weird uhh.
These are generally minor shortcomings for the price, but covering up potential problems of this amp doesn't do potential buyers any favors
That's a serious accusation there pal. There is no cover up going on, once again you are being overly dramatic. My assessment is as I see it. Like I say I believe this is the greatest bargain in desktop amps today bar none and I cannot find any issues at all in this equipment which is a very rare thing. I am very picky & have tried at least 4 head amps before this. Right now I do not see any need to upgrade in the future. The only unknown is long term reliabilty, but only time will tell.