A few questions..new to tubes.

[chadk]

Before I really dive into my vintage tube amp, just a question or two for anyone who can help. Is there a sonic difference between tubes with short plates vs. long plates? If I ever need to replace my tubes, should I go with NOS, or is new acceptable? What is the break in time for tubes? And if anyone knows what the correct fuse for a heathkit w5m, it would be greatly appreciated. thank you! Heakit w5m all original with the peerless 16458. Heathkit wa-p2 preamp. Denon dvd 2200 universal player (sacd dvd audio). b&w series 1 602 speakers. ......a work in progress.

 

[ferninando]

get all the good USED US made OLD tubes you can get of the types for your amp. all broke in and sound good. NOS too much $$ and not needed. New? don't bother. ebay has good used tube sellers, just keep watching and do BIN. bidding sux.IMO only
Buy in pairs or quads as apprppriate when you can. free shipping is best. but low is ok. ie. $5 per 4 tubes.

 

[JonL]

The difference in sonics between tubes ranges from non-existent to quite noticeable. Tubes often respond differently in different amps and in different positions within an amp, so it's hard to say that a long plate will sound this way and a short plate will sound that way. It's also largely a matter of taste. Tube rolling is like putting seasoning on an already prepared meal. It can make it better or worse, but it won't change it fundamentally.

I'd certainly not limit my used tube purchases to US made tubes. There are many great sounding European tubes as well. Best thing is to try some yourself, and read about other people's experiences, and you might be able to start to draw some generalizations, but even then the only "proof" is in the listening in your own rig.

 

[Les Lammers]

Before I really dive into my vintage tube amp, just a question or two for anyone who can help. Is there a sonic difference between tubes with short plates vs. long plates? If I ever need to replace my tubes, should I go with NOS, or is new acceptable? What is the break in time for tubes? And if anyone knows what the correct fuse for a heathkit w5m, it would be greatly appreciated. thank you! Heakit w5m all original with the peerless 16458. Heathkit wa-p2 preamp. Denon dvd 2200 universal player (sacd dvd audio). b&w series 1 602 speakers. ......a work in progress.

I would have a tech check the gear B4 thinking about new tubes. You don't want the 4th of July in the living room. :tears:

 

[seta1]

Before I really dive into my vintage tube amp, just a question or two for anyone who can help. Is there a sonic difference between tubes with short plates vs. long plates? If I ever need to replace my tubes, should I go with NOS, or is new acceptable? What is the break in time for tubes? And if anyone knows what the correct fuse for a heathkit w5m, it would be greatly appreciated. thank you! Heakit w5m all original with the peerless 16458. Heathkit wa-p2 preamp. Denon dvd 2200 universal player (sacd dvd audio). b&w series 1 602 speakers. ......a work in progress.

NOS is supposed to mean "New Old Stock", but in many cases even these tubes are used. It's a thing of buyer beware. I prefer to consider them all used and just use the term vintage tubes. Now, there is nothing wrong with a slightly used vintage tube. Many used vintage tubes will outlast modern production new tubes. As for modern production, many of these tubes are excellent sounding and performing. If you can get good vintage tubes for a reasonable price, I'd go that route. But for things like output tubes (EL34, 6L6, 6550, EL84 etc.) I doubt you will find them for a low price and you may want to just use modern production. Your Heath amps should state on the back the wattage they need at the line voltage. If it is 100 - 150 watts a 2 amp will work. At around 200 watts, a 2.5 - 3 amp is best. The weak link in your heath amps is that Peerless output transformer. It is barely adequate relative to the normal plate current drawn by the output tubes. This is why I recommend that you stay away from used output tubes in that amp and why I would go with something like SED (formerly Svetlana) output tubes that are tested and sold by a good tube dealer like Doug's tubes, who does a burn in and not only a Gmu test but a plate current test with modern test equipment.
I would also make sure you rebuild these amps and replace ALL bias components and coupling capacitors. This amp is not forgiving. If you smoke a Peerless, you will have a hard time finding another one and if you do it will cost a lot. These are really wonderful sounding amps based on the Williamson circuit. They deliver around 20 real world watts of power.
As for longer plate tubes sounding better, well, they sound different. Whether they sound better is up to your ears to decide. Trying different brands of tubes has become a real big thing of late, the term they use now is 'tube rolling'. Yes, all tubes sound different. But some of the differences are so subtle that most people could not actually tell the difference. I would first replace certain key components in the amps and get them back up to reliable factory spec. I've worked on a lot of these old amps and they normally need a standard rebuild before they will sound right and be reliable. After the rebuild, I would then install a strong testing set of tubes. Then just listen to them and enjoy them for a while before fooling around with tube rolling and such. Get used to how they sound before making a bunch of tube changes.