NewTube Burn In Question

[bmr3hc]

I just received the Genelex Gold Lion KT88 tubes in the mail today. Is there a general rule of thumb for new tube break-in?

[Bigfish8]

I just received the Genelex Gold Lion KT88 tubes in the mail today. Is there a general rule of thumb for new tube break-in?

I don't have any experience with KT-88's.  With NOS 12AU7's, 6GC7's and 6SN7's I use a rule of 100 hours of break-in time.

Enjoy the new tubes.

Ken

[bmr3hc]

Thanks Ken.
I guess I am a little too excited about the possibilities of the KT88 and can hardly wait to hear them after break-in. The first day, the highs seems better already. The mids and lows ok for now. Will report back in about 2-3 weeks.

Henry

[Bigfish8]

Henry:

I have this problem with tubes - I love to roll the darn things.   Tubes have such different sound qualities from brand to brand and from one year of manufacturing date to another.  You can definitely alter the flavor of the sound by a change in tubes. 

Enjoy your new KT-88's and keep us posted on how the sound evolves!

Ken

[bmr3hc]

I started out with the Siemens EL34. These were great in the mids and highs but lack low end impact. Longevity became somewhat of an issue. I then tried using the Audio research 6550. Very rugged and lots of power for a tube. The low end was great the mids good, but not like the EL34. The highs were ok to good, but again not like the EL34.  Guess I have been tube rolling Between the two, I would go with the 6500, because of the sheer power and weight. As to the KT88, I am hoping for the best of both worlds. The KT88's are calling, and so is the wife. Honey, I will be with there soon , let me make sure the KT88's are ok before bed....

[rollo]

After 30 Hrs you should get a taste of the tube. 100 hours on the sound wil be there.



charles

[bmr3hc]

18 hrs down and 82 to go!! I must say the new Gold Lions sound pretty good about now at 11:40 pm. To speed up the burn-in process, should I leave the tubes on overnight; with or without a signal going to them?

Henry

[richidoo]

Good questions. Nobody really knows, it's all opinion with tubes.

The way I look at it is that it doesn't really matter how long it takes to break in, you're gonna keep them after that anyway. So just use them as you normally would and enjoy the changes as they happen. To speed it up, just let the system play music whenever you're home and awake. Shut it off at night and when you're not home for safety. My GT tubes take 500 hours to really come into stride, and start to tire after 2000 so I don't hurry the break in process. ymmv Most of the major changes are done by 100 hours, like rollo said.  I bet you are giving them a good 30 hours just this weekend!

[bmr3hc]

Richidoo, as always thanks much. I have the burn in process mapped out at 5 hours per day going forward. In the meantime, these tubes are also good to look at. A big thank you to Bill O'Connor who referred me to Jim Mcshane for the KT88 tubes. They were shipped promptly and well packed.

[richidoo]

Good to know! You didn't go for the lowest price on the web, you went for best quality!