For those, like myself, who are valve virgins, it would be very helpful if a member who has experience aplenty with valves and valve kit could write a guide for dummies describing the advantages and pitfalls of owning valve equipment. Things like bias setup etc are anathema to me and to some other members I suspect. Also a simplified guide to choosing replacement valves both new and NOS with recommendations etc.
Having heard Mark's (Dingdong's) WAD monoblocs recently I'm absolutely sold on valve amplification but I'm extremely nervous about choosing this route because of my ignorance of the subject and because of some of the horror stories I've read (failing valves taking out amps for instance).
As an example of what I am going on about, here are a few likely queries concerning valves and valve equipment:
What kind of lifetime can one expect from a new valve?
With the previous question in mind, does it make economic sense to buy secondhand valves?
Why do valves have to be matched?
Why are some valves better than others?
Why are valves so expensive?
Could there ever be a situation where valve amplification would not be advisable?
Do transistorised Class A amps exhibit a similar sound profile to valve amps?
Where do well designed Class D amps fit in to all this?
Are the running costs of valve amps prohibitive?
Are Class A/B amps a good compromise?
Over to whomever wishes to take up the baton, and perhaps it could be made a sticky...
Originally Posted by Jonboy
Odd that they will handle 40W in America but only 20W in the UK 
Isaac Bashevis Singer
