Tube replacement time
 

It's tube replacement time but the goal is to replace my entire ARC suite including Amp, Pre, and Phono Pre all which is a small fortune and I'd like to save some money. My question; am I asking for trouble to not buy directly from ARC or through my dealer? What is the deal with matched tubes vs not matched? I re-tubed once through my dealer and they came matched, ready to install and have had not problems in nearly 4000 hrs.(amp). Any help you can offer is appreciated. VS-115, LS-27, Ref 2.

Olskool

You will likely pay at least 2x the cost to purchase through ARC and/or your dealer. There many reputable tube sellers (Tube Depot, Tube Store, Upscale Audio, etc.) that test, match and sell the exact same tubes (plus many others) for competitive prices. At 4000hr you likely do not need to change out any of the small-signal tubes (small in size = small signal) as they are generally good for 10,000+ hours. At 4000hr you definitely need to look at changing out the power tubes in your amp. That is pretty much the tops in run-time for power tubes due to the high voltage/current at which they are run. I find the reissue Tung Sol 6550s to be an excellent choice. If you can find matched sets of quads, the no-longer-in-production Svetlana Winged 'C' is tops to my ears. I've managed to hoard a couple of sets, but the prices have gone nuts since they went out of production a couple of years ago.

Glenn,

If ARC is anything like c-j, I couldn't agree more. Upscale Audio (no affiliation other than I've dealt with them for 20 years), for example, has the SED =C= 6550C for $70 apiece. Also the New Sensor Tung-Sol Reissue 6550 for $39. While I agree that the SED is a bit better, the TS is a real bargain IMHO.

Regards,

I've always had good luck getting tubes from Jim McShane. Good service and advice.
His website could be a little better though. Tube & Information Page
I usually just email him with what I want instead of looking at the website.

No affiliation

Thanks guys, unfortunately the amp tubes needed to come out so I ordered replacement driver tubes from my dealer, but your input is golden. I will remember your useful responses when next time to order. You make a good point about the sound of a particular tube so I may even give tube rolling a try as well later in the year. I am running KT-120's for the VS-115; any suggestions?

LJ

Good advice from Glenn ………..

excellent advice from BeerCan as well, IMO Jim is top notch when it comes to the 'sonic' nature of tubes. His recommendation for my Rogue M-180's were superb

Have purchased from Jim McShane in the past and always happy.
To my ears, the 6550 is the sweetest sound on female vocals of the various KT-88, KT-120, etc., tubes. Tube rolling will allow you to see which your ears prefer.

I replaced the old tubes in my system last night. It is interesting how subtle but substantial the audio quality loss was over time from the old tubes. There was nothing subtle about what the difference in the new tubes produced. It was like someone turned on a completely new audio system right out of the box with the new tubes at 0 break-in time! I ran a bias check on the old tubes vs new tubes. Amazingly the old tubes had not drifted from .065mV except one set was down about 3/4 mV. The new tubes were all consistently .045mV so I will need to re-bias them. The sound was amazing and wonderful and I'm back in love with my kit! By the way, the rectifier tube in the Ref2 was originally a Svetlana 6550C and the replace sent by ARC was a SovTech 6550WE (I believe those are the correct makes).

Congrats. Glad it is "sounding good". Tubes has some sort of 'magic' when they are done right.

But......... am guessing you are close on the 6550 but not quite right. The 6550 is power tube in the power supply and there is a different tube, which is the 5AR4 rectifier, or something similar. The 5AR4 is not quite as large as the 6550. The rectifier tube is a different construction than is the power tube.

Hello Formerly YB-2 and thanks for your reply. Yeah the magic was definitely at hand last night. I was very surprised at the performance right out of the box. Regarding the rectifier tube, you caused me to stop and think so I went and unscrewed the top and I was not hallucinating, it is a Sovtech 6550WE and the original is a 6550C. I took a couple shots of the current tube and its position in the box. I got the replacement tubes from my dealer, an authorized ARC seller and service provider so I'm sure everything is up and up. Let me know your thoughts - your input is appreciated, Olskool