I've had the EAR 890 serviced with the nearest servicing station and by god it was expensive. 900 euro. The tubes cost 74 euro per piece. Now I browsed the web for tubes and found them at that price per pair, but the guy at the hifi shop(who outsources this stuff) said that difference is normal because when testing tubes easily half of them turn out not to be good enough. What's the price for quality KT90's, is he right about that? Would it have been worth it to send the amp across the mighty seas over to Tim de Paravincini's shoppe?
EAR 890 tube replacement
- Thread starter Alexander
- Start date
daytona600
Registered User
could be worth trying new KT120 claimed to be a drop in for 90s
JohnW
pfm member
Careful here - the KT120 apparently requires higher heater current then the KT90 so might NOT be (is not) a direct replacement.
That said, looking at the prices of matched Tubes - what else need replacing on your unit to justify 900 Euros? Did you send the unit in for repair or just "Annual" servicing...?
Barrymagrec
pfm Member
Surely if you test new valves and they don`t meet spec they go back to the supplier - don`t they? - or is the EAR requirement much tighter than a normal amp?
JohnW
pfm member
For 900 Euros it have to be bloody difficult - and I don't see that being the case...
This is indeed the kind of information I would like to get.
JohnW
pfm member
Joco
pfm Member
I'd enquire how much the Factory would charge and based on that price you'd have a choice wether to send back it to base or not next time - not much you can do about the last one I suspect.
Do the Valves always get changed at a service or is changing the Valves interval shorter than the 5(?) yearly.
Do the Valves always get changed at a service or is changing the Valves interval shorter than the 5(?) yearly.
bottleneck
pfm Member
jesus wept - 900 for some tubes and a service?!?
next time, try a ''guitar amp repair man''. They work with valve amps all day long and trust me guitarists don't pay stupid money for repairs and servicing.
next time, try a ''guitar amp repair man''. They work with valve amps all day long and trust me guitarists don't pay stupid money for repairs and servicing.
Steven Toy
Accuphase newbie
Indeed. My Copper amp needed a new mains transformer and caps before it could accept the new KT120s. Now it will only run with KT120s....
The whole job including custom made-to-order mains transformer from Sowter came in at less than £900.
The job was done by Anthony Matthews of Tube Distinctions who built the amp in the first place 15 years ago. He happens to spend most of his time repairing guitar amps. Funny that!
JemHayward
pfm Member
When Tim De P. Serviced my 890 at the factory, I just needed one KT90 and I think they charged me about £45 for it. They don't need to be matched or anything, just working! I guess they all come from the same factory anyway, but mine do have the EAR logo on them!
Mongeddavid
pfm Member
My guess is you have been royally ripped off there is no more than £200 worth of tubes in there. What make are the kt90s? jj , electro harmonics make them at around £80 for a matched pair and you would be covered against any duds when purchasing from any reputable source. Id ask the servicing guy for a full break down of the cost and a receipt for the valves used.
JemHayward
pfm Member
Just checked with Tim, if you use unmatched valves, there is a danger of slight hum, but otherwise it would be ok.
So, a spare set of valves would be about £320. I may well treat myself to a set.
daytona600
Registered User
900euros Jez , i just replaced the 16 x 300b & 12ax7 in my power-amps cheaper than that & they where premium tj full musics
Considering that the valves had already over 5000 hours behind them, it's not that weird that all of them were replaced. Also , £45 is not that far from 75euro. So concluding, while 900 euro is high, I think I have to face it that a high power valve amp is expensive in maintenance.
The factory didn't reply to my query.