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  #51  
Old 03-18-2017, 09:25 PM
birdland birdland is offline
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I've been listening this afternoon and there is no point in putting the LS25 back in. I hear textures and instruments, etc that I have not before heard before on tracks with which I am very familiar.

I was listening to RACHMANINOV Piano Concerto No 1 (Denis Matsuev - piano; conducted by Valery Gergiev) on DSD64 files from NativeDSD.com and I have to say that I have never heard this piano sound as real as it does in my stereo even when I had expensive Telefunken 6922 CCAs in my LS25.
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  #52  
Old 03-19-2017, 01:17 AM
tima tima is online now
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It only gets better from here.
Enjoy your new music collection.
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  #53  
Old 03-19-2017, 02:36 AM
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John49 John49 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by The Lost Bears View Post



As with all tube preamps, you need to let it warm up for 15 to 20 minutes before listening. The sound will continue to improve for the next hour or so.

Wasn't so long ago, that you let the tube amp warm up for 2-3 hours and then it shut down after 10 minutes as it had overheated...[emoji15]
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  #54  
Old 03-19-2017, 12:38 PM
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brad225 brad225 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by birdland View Post
Hi Brad - yes I saw the various post regarding the GE 6550A tubes. I've also read that the GE tube is not necessarily a good fit for some of the ARC products or maybe they were bad tubes.

What about the fact that an audio research tech indicated that the GE 6550 tube was not a good fit electrically for the power supply? Do you still let them go for 2000 hours before replacing?
Birdland, I am not an E.E. but my gut tells me the build quality is much better with on the NOS tubes than current 6550s.

I'm concerned about any tube I put in my amps let alone tubes that are not from Audio Research. The GE 6550's are not something I would put in my power amps but I feel reasonably safe with them in my 40th Ann. pre.

Audio Research did use the 6550A tubes previously in equipment but stopped as the supply started to dry up and the cost was going to make it prohibitive.

If I bought a new ARC piece of equipment I probably would stay with their tubes until it was out of warranty for the obvious reason.

Prior to these 2 GE 6550A tubes for my preamp the only tubes I purchased from a source other than ARC were tubes for both versions of my LS25's .

Hopefully your button issue will be solved easily but my guess is something is clearly damaged.

Good Luck
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  #55  
Old 03-19-2017, 03:23 PM
birdland birdland is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by brad225 View Post
Birdland, I am not an E.E. but my gut tells me the build quality is much better with on the NOS tubes than current 6550s.

I'm concerned about any tube I put in my amps let alone tubes that are not from Audio Research. The GE 6550's are not something I would put in my power amps but I feel reasonably safe with them in my 40th Ann. pre.

Audio Research did use the 6550A tubes previously in equipment but stopped as the supply started to dry up and the cost was going to make it prohibitive.

If I bought a new ARC piece of equipment I probably would stay with their tubes until it was out of warranty for the obvious reason.

Prior to these 2 GE 6550A tubes for my preamp the only tubes I purchased from a source other than ARC were tubes for both versions of my LS25's .

Hopefully your button issue will be solved easily but my guess is something is clearly damaged.

Good Luck
Brad - thank you for your comments. I will think twice before using the GE 6550A tube since there are limited sources for them.

With respect to the button issue, I am trying to stay positive.

Anyone know how to remove the face plate on a REF 5SE? I suspect this is an alignment issue.
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Digital W4S DAC-2v2SE, W4S Recovery powered by Uptone Audio LPS-1, OPPO BDP-105; Office: iFi micro iDAC2 Home Office: iFi nano iDSD with iPurifier2
Analog Rega Planar 2 (original) heavily modified; Benz Micro Ace; Aesthetix Rhea phono pre-amp
Pre-amp/amp Audio Research REF 5SE, Audio Research REF 150, Martin Logan SL3s, Shunyata Research power cords throughout
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  #56  
Old 03-20-2017, 08:44 PM
birdland birdland is offline
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BUTTONS all work now!

So the seller contacted Audio Research and they told him that UPS most likely were not very kind to the shipping box. The outside of the box didn't really suggest that but if the box was dropped flat, there wouldn't be any real sign of damage on the outside.

They said that it is easy to fix this. The front plate just has to be loosened and adjusted slightly. I already surmised that this was going to be the fix after closely examining how the front plate is attached on my LS25 and on the REF 5SE. I was waiting for confirmation from Audio Research.

They gave the seller a procedure and he sent it to me. I couldn't perform the procedure exactly as described because my allen wrench was not long enough to get to the bottom allen bolts from the bottom. However with a little ingenuity, I was able to loosen the two top bolts and the bottom right bolt (from the top). I moved the plate until the buttons popped out.

I then plugged the preamp in without any connections and powered it up using the front panel power button. I knew we were in business when I saw the flashing 'MUTE ON' instead of 'MUTE OFF' during power up. Now, everything works as expected. I have not listened to it and probably won't for a day or so but I am sure everything is fine now - I hope.
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Digital W4S DAC-2v2SE, W4S Recovery powered by Uptone Audio LPS-1, OPPO BDP-105; Office: iFi micro iDAC2 Home Office: iFi nano iDSD with iPurifier2
Analog Rega Planar 2 (original) heavily modified; Benz Micro Ace; Aesthetix Rhea phono pre-amp
Pre-amp/amp Audio Research REF 5SE, Audio Research REF 150, Martin Logan SL3s, Shunyata Research power cords throughout
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  #57  
Old 03-21-2017, 01:11 AM
2fastdriving 2fastdriving is offline
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Great ending! Sounds like you are quite happy with the ref5se. Awesome preamp.
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  #58  
Old 03-21-2017, 02:16 AM
Randy Myers Randy Myers is offline
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Excellent! Great to hear...
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  #59  
Old 03-21-2017, 10:00 AM
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brad225 brad225 is offline
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Glad to hear all is well in Birdland.

I stopped using UPS when they delivered 2 sub woofers by pushing them off the truck in my driveway and leaving.
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  #60  
Old 03-21-2017, 11:50 PM
birdland birdland is offline
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Yes - everything turned out well.

Has anyone else wondered about the sounds coming from inside of a REF 5SE when you jar it ever so slightly? I'm talking about the almost rattling/ringing sounds. I think they are coming from the numerous electrolytic caps. These sounds make the preamp seem cheap.

It isn't the tubes that's for sure. There are no KT120s or KT150s in there. They ring like crazy - so much for tube dampening.

Yes, I know that one doesn't normally move the preamp around but the sounds are really disconcerting.
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Digital W4S DAC-2v2SE, W4S Recovery powered by Uptone Audio LPS-1, OPPO BDP-105; Office: iFi micro iDAC2 Home Office: iFi nano iDSD with iPurifier2
Analog Rega Planar 2 (original) heavily modified; Benz Micro Ace; Aesthetix Rhea phono pre-amp
Pre-amp/amp Audio Research REF 5SE, Audio Research REF 150, Martin Logan SL3s, Shunyata Research power cords throughout
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