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In the Forum: Audio Discussions
In the Thread: Initial thoughts about new/old Lamm ML2s
Post Subject: Not to Defend the HabitPosted by Paul S on: 1/23/2010
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Jessie, another thing is that there does not appear to be an actual  "standard" tube pin diameter for a given species.  Add to this the mediocre initial quality of the Lamm sockets and you have a less than ideal situation to begin with that cannot improve with time.  I noticed and reported quite a while back that I had to bend pins on an otherwise-OK batch of 6N6Ps with thin pins to ensure "sufficient" contact with all pins.  This was soon after I bought the amps, and it was certainly before rocking had time to affect anything.  To further confuse things, I had previously rocked tubes in a dozen amps over 45 years without ever cracking a tube or producing any other overt signs that the practice itself was a bad idea.

To be clearer (but not to seek exoneration), the rocking, though habitual and chronic, is not something I've done often.  Rather, I have done it only when I installed new tubes or while cleaning pins and/or sockets.  So any damage done by me in this case happened pretty fast, with but few occasions of the offending ritual.

However, all Sophistry aside, I think this is a case where the results speak for themselves: The broken tube bottles clearly indicate how "careful" or "gentle" I was (or wasn't...) in the cited instances.  And clearly, at least some of the 5651s and 6069s are vulnerable to the sort of "gentle" treatment to which I subjected them.

Of course the post is meant to be cautionary rather than confused or defensive.  Upon reflection, I should better have said my tube handling has been "deliberate" rather than "careful" or "gentle", since - again - the results speak for themselves.  Speaking for myself, I am going to really try to kick the habit.

Now, to find the effing 1.25A fuse (as opposed to the ubiquitous 1A or 1.5A one can get about anywhere).  'Guess it's another "factory" item...


Best regards,
Paul S

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