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Need Help Making My Tube Amp "Family Friendly"

codyrogers

codyrogers

New Member
Hey everyone! I tried searching the forum to see if anyone ever had my issue before but I really couldn't find a post that matched it exactly. I decided to post here in hopes someone may have an answer. Right now, my family television goes through my hifi system. My wife and family uses it with no problem to watch tv and play video games however they get my anxiety going over one thing; my Dynaco ST-70. I use my tube amp with my McIntosh 6200 sometimes because I really love how they sound together despite the 6200 being more known as an integrated. The reason I say sometimes is because I will always find that someone forgot to turn off the tube amp for long periods of time, I freak out and take it out of the system until I miss it a month or two later. Rinse and repeat.

Is there a way I can use my tube amp exclusively for listening to music and switch it back to SS when I'm done without having to pull out my 6200, undo the rca's and speaker wire every time?
 
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Separating the HT from your 2 channel system is probably the best bet as stated above. I don't have a HT setup, but keep a SS integrated setup in my main system. When I'm done listening, I switch the selector over to it. My tube amps are on a wifi switch anyway, so can't be turned on without my smart phone or pulling the wifi power strip out from under a rack and pushing the manual on button.
 
I can't imagine why anyone would burn now expensive tubes for TV/Video.
Most people can hardly hear the difference anyway.
 
6DZ7 said:
You need an external speaker relay that switches amps, powered on from a seperate power strip, which also powers the 70. Then add an A/B selector for the RCA inputs. You then turn everything on and off when your done so they can be happy they don't need to change switches.
Click to expand...

This was where my mind first went but was unsure. Thank you for confirming!

Do you think using something like this and this would accomplish that?
 
Lavane said:
Separating the HT from your 2 channel system is probably the best bet as stated above. I don't have a HT setup, but keep a SS integrated setup in my main system. When I'm done listening, I switch the selector over to it. My tube amps are on a wifi switch anyway, so can't be turned on without my smart phone or pulling the wifi power strip out from under a rack and pushing the manual on button.
Click to expand...

I take any opportunity to tell the wife I need more equipment ;) Seriously though, that's good advice and may be what I have to do.
 
I'd say make sure the Dynaco is tuned up, located in a well ventilated area, and has a correct fuse installed and just use it all the time. If you get tubes like EHX they last ages and won't require frequent replacement. It kind of depends on just how much TV your family watches. Tubes aren't *that* expensive. For example if a $200 set of output tubes lasts 5,000 hours, that's $0.04 per hour.
 
I assume that you are manually turning on the tube amp when you want to use it? A couple of options I'd use are:

1. Use a different input on the 6200 for the tube amp vs. the TV/other source input(s).

2. Consider purchasing a switched smart power strip that you plug the 6200 into as the main strip power source and plug the tube amp into one of the switched outlets. These work great. I use one to trigger my tube pre-amp on when I turn on my DAC via the MX-151 pre-amp processor. Using this insures that my tube pre-amp turns off when the DAC is turned off. Here is a link:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000P1QJXQ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
 
Nyjblbob said:
I can't imagine why anyone would burn now expensive tubes for TV/Video.
Most people can hardly hear the difference anyway.
Click to expand...

The wife and I watch something, usually a movie or documentary, for a couple of hours each night. We must not be "most people" since we can most certainly hear a big difference. We have premium theatre sound for our movies. Three-way speakers with 15" woofers. Yes, it is worth it.

The power amp is an ST-70. The power goes out and then flickers multiple times per year and this pisses off the 5AR4 rectifier. Voltage spikes can kill electronics and certainly rectifier tubes. The solution is a GFCI plug between the wall and the stereo gear. When the power goes off, the GFCI trips and the system cannot come on until I press the reset button.

The outlet in question is actually powered by a wall switch that also runs a small lamp. When we go to bed, we turn off the switch that runs that lamp, which also turns off the stereo and trips the GFCI. My modem and router are also on one of these wall-plug GFCI units, which cost about $20.
 
A lot of great advice and options here everyone. I really appreciate it! I'll report back on what I do and how it goes!
 
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