[HVK]

So there I am listening to my little gem when the right channel starts to hiss and fade away. I took the unit in to the dealer only to find out that the tubes gone?? I listened to no where near 3000 hours of music which it's rated for. Turns out that I always left the unit on which shortened the life span big time!! BUT....the owners manual says:

"This unit is designed to be left on indefinatly"

Should MF address this statment given it's NOT designed to do this?? Opinions?

 

[Michgelsen]

It is designed to be left on: switching the unit off and on frequently shortens the tube life more than just leaving it on.
I think you just had bad luck that the tube died so quickly.

 

[osgorth]

Mine's been running since day 1. Well over 3000 hours by now and I have no issues whatsoever.

 

[DanPash]

Switched mine on in 2006, its been running ever since...

 

[mrarroyo]

I know what it says but I turn mine off after each session. BTW, now that you need tubes try to get a set of Rusian 6H23-EB. They sound fantastic on the V3.

 

[Agent Kang]

I always turn my tube amp after listening. My tube DAC on the other hand I leave it on continuously.

 

[Kees]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrarroyo /img/forum/go_quote.gif I know what it says but I turn mine off after each session. BTW, now that you need tubes try to get a set of Rusian 6H23-EB. They sound fantastic on the V3.

X2.
You can leave the amp on. No problem. You had just some bad luck.

 

[Jay B]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrarroyo /img/forum/go_quote.gif I know what it says but I turn mine off after each session. BTW, now that you need tubes try to get a set of Rusian 6H23-EB. They sound fantastic on the V3.

I haven't heard the Russian tubes, but I've tried out a few pairs and it makes a difference. Now that you've got to replace em, might as well upgrade to a decent pair. Some others that I've heard are good are the British Mullard ECC88's or JAN Sylvania 7308.

 

[daveDerek]

isn't there a potential fire hazard in leaving unattended tubes running?

 

[mrarroyo]

The reason I turn off my X-Can V3 or the V2 is that the output transistors do not have heat sinks. Thus the board has been know to get scorched in some instances. Both my V3 and V2 have been PinkFloyd and one of the mods is heat sinks on the transistors.

The first pic below is my V3 and you can see the mods including the heat sinks. The second is my V2 and you can see the heat sinks as well. BTW click on the thumbnails to view the full size pics.

 

[insidiousness]

Quote:

Originally Posted by HVK /img/forum/go_quote.gif So there I am listening to my little gem when the right channel starts to hiss and fade away. I took the unit in to the dealer only to find out that the tubes gone?? I listened to no where near 3000 hours of music which it's rated for. Turns out that I always left the unit on which shortened the life span big time!! BUT....the owners manual says: "This unit is designed to be left on indefinatly" Should MF address this statment given it's NOT designed to do this?? Opinions?

Thats the norm with tube gear! I dont think I had my V3 more than a week and I was rolling tubes. Tube changing is part of owning tube gear.

I've left my V3 on for well over a years(about 11 months so far on the 6n1pEV tubes).

 

[mrarroyo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by insidiousness /img/forum/go_quote.gif Thats the norm with tube gear! I dont think I had my V3 more than a week and I was rolling tubes. Tube changing is part of owning tube gear. I've left my V3 on for well over a years(about 11 months so far on the 6n1pEV tubes).

I hope you have a beffier PSU than the stock wall wart, the 6np1 family of tubes draw a lot of juice and have been know to cause a failure. Best of luck.

 

[insidiousness]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrarroyo /img/forum/go_quote.gif I hope you have a beffier PSU than the stock wall wart, the 6np1 family of tubes draw a lot of juice and have been know to cause a failure. Best of luck.

No problems yet! I just took a look at the board and its free of any burn marks. Bennyboy did the mod and tells me its safe to run 6n1p tubes.

 

[Gradofan2]

I run the 6N1P-EB tubes in my PinkFloyd modded XCAN v3 (including the heat sinks) with no problems. But, I do have the XPSU v3 to support them.

The only difference I've noticed... is that the unit tends to run a bit warmer, than with other 6922's - warm not hot. I'm not sure what the result would be with the stock walwart PSU - but, I'd be careful.

And the sound they produce is somewhat better than with other tubes I've tried, which include Amperex's, though no Siemens, or Mullards. Although, I think the stock JAN Philips 6922's sound almost as good - either are simply great with all the phones I've tried (Senns, Grados, ATH's).

The 6H23-EB's sound good also, but are a bit darker, and less bright than the 6N1P-EB's, which have as good, or better bass and mids, and great PRAT / dynamics. The 6H23-EB's tend to complement Grados and other phones with extra bright highs, but the 6N1P-EB's and stock tubes tend to complement the darker Senns.