Tube Amplifier Survival Tips - Laney CUB12R Operating Instructions Manual

Laney

TUBE AMPLIFIER SURVIVAL TIPS

• Tube amplifiers; generally sound much warmer/sweeter than solid state transistor amplifiers but they also
need a little more respect due to the fragile glass tubes themselves. The uses top quality tubes, which
CUB12
should give you years of trouble free service, however like all tube amps; it is important to treat it with a certain
amount of care.
• Tubes are fragile glass components; they can easily be damaged if thrown in and out of vehicles,
• Make sure the impedance; of your cabinets matches the setting on your amplifier. Improper impedance
matching will result in reduced power output and compromised sound at best and amplifier failure/premature
tube failure at worst.
• Allow the amplifier; to warm up to room temperature before switching it on, the sudden thermal shock
generated can crack the cold glass tube housing plus any moisture is bad news around high voltage electronics.
• Allow the amplifier; to cool down after playing before moving. Hot tubes are more susceptible to damage
than cool ones. Use good quality loudspeaker leads, cheap leads are often not up to the job of handling the large
requirements for loudspeakers and can often short out.
• Tube amplifiers; don't like running into a open circuit. A tubes life expectancy is based upon a number of
factors which include operating temperature, how hard and how often it is played, vibration due to travel etc.
Tubes should be changed in your amplifier if you notice any change in your amplifiers performance etc. They need
not be changed at any regular interval.
• Typical problems; with preamp tubes can be a crackly noise, hiss, hum and microphony. The preamp tubes
can safely be changed with no action required if they fail or reduce in performance. Typical output tube problems
can be; sound lacking in punch, sound lacks extreme highs or lows and low level hum. Exact replacements for the
preamp tube and output tube are available from Laney via your dealer.