KT 150 tubes in REF 250

[veerapaneni]

I replaced my Teflon caps to gold caps few months back.

[MPS]

Originally Posted by veerapaneni

I replaced my Teflon caps to gold caps few months back.

How would you describe the sound difference?

[veerapaneni]

I don't think I found any difference. Might be the new caps are little faster.

[Number95]

How is the failure rate or reliability of kt-150 compared to kt-120? Similar?

[nonesup]

Hi. I changed to KT150 , in my Ref.150 .
The tubes are currently 50 hours.
Until many hours , continuing to improve these tubes . I hear certain hardness at higher frequencies , which did not notice with KT120 .

[Harlequin]

Good morning fellow Agaricus bisporus,

Well, well, have we been shown the light at last?

" 12-20-14: Audioconnection
Spoke with DG at ARC today and he said electrically engineering has signed off A OKAY for use with the KT 150 with the
ARC amps below. But from a Mechanical standpoint one must take note with clearance and observe the larger 150s can vary on glass height with Cages and such could be a close call in some situations etc.
Enjoy, Merry Christmas
Johnny R Audio Connection
VSI 60
VSI 75
Ref 75
Ref 150
Ref 250
Ref 750 "

I suspect that confusion shall reign yet, as there does not appear to be any proclamation, nailed to the Portal at ARC Central, in confirmation of this news!
As of the previous day we are still reading reports to the contrary,

" OTOH, what about a REF75 with KT150. He told me that ARC will not ship a REF75 or REF150 with KT150 even if a customer ask for it and willing to pay the added cost. Although the specs are nearly identical for the REF150-GS150, he says that those are only the tip of the iceberg. The electrical design of the GS150 is different from the REF150 and is optimized for the KT150 "

I would not be at all surprised were one to seek clarification of Kalvin only hear the same old recorded message " Does not comply , exterminate, exterminate "

[JCR]

Originally Posted by Harlequin

Good morning fellow Agaricus bisporus,

Well, well, have we been shown the light at last?

" 12-20-14: Audioconnection
Spoke with DG at ARC today and he said electrically engineering has signed off A OKAY for use with the KT 150 with the
ARC amps below. But from a Mechanical standpoint one must take note with clearance and observe the larger 150s can vary on glass height with Cages and such could be a close call in some situations etc.
Enjoy, Merry Christmas
Johnny R Audio Connection
VSI 60
VSI 75
Ref 75
Ref 150
Ref 250
Ref 750 "

I suspect that confusion shall reign yet, as there does not appear to be any proclamation, nailed to the Portal at ARC Central, in collaboration of this news!
As of the previous day we are still reading reports to the contrary,

" OTOH, what about a REF75 with KT150. He told me that ARC will not ship a REF75 or REF150 with KT150 even if a customer ask for it and willing to pay the added cost. Although the specs are nearly identical for the REF150-GS150, he says that those are only the tip of the iceberg. The electrical design of the GS150 is different from the REF150 and is optimized for the KT150 "

I would not be at all surprised were one to seek clarification of Kalvin only hear the same old recorded message " Does not comply , exterminate, exterminate "

Great news. My dealer also confirmed I could use the KT150 into my REF750. Given I would need to buy 38 of them, I will put a few more hours on my KT120 first

[max17]

Thanks for this information! I had mentioned in another thread that my dealer (whose information I highly trust) was told by Audio Research that they were working on a REF amp upgrade for current amp owners. The upgrade would include KT150 tubes and "some other changes" to the amp. Since the KT150 tube replacement seems not to require any other modification I would think that "some other changes" to the amp would be to better utilize the full potential of the KT150? Also, if this upgrade is made available to current REF owners wouldn't Audio Research need to market an upgraded REF model with KT150s for new buyers? By releasing the Galileo before realizing that the KT150s could be used in the REF series has caused a marketing nightmare for ARC.

[2fastdriving]

I've got about 40 hours on my KT150s, and they continue to improve. One thing I'm concerned about is that I keep having to tweak the bias. When I first got my amp with kt120s I had to set the bias a couple times but then it stabilized and I never had to touch again. Not sure why these keep drifting. I guess it's not terrible (just outside the normal range) but noticeable. Oh... Forgot to add, this is a Ref 75.

[kngale1]

Originally Posted by 2fastdriving

I've got about 40 hours on my KT150s, and they continue to improve. One thing I'm concerned about is that I keep having to tweak the bias. When I first got my amp with kt120s I had to set the bias a couple times but then it stabilized and I never had to touch again. Not sure why these keep drifting. I guess it's not terrible (just outside the normal range) but noticeable. Oh... Forgot to add, this is a Ref 75.

Where did you buy the KT150s?