Is my ARC LS25 MkI holding back the sound?

[2fastdriving]

Originally Posted by birdland

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.

Um... Nope. Maybe your ordeal isn't over. What the heck.

[The Lost Bears]

My Ref 5se also makes no rattling or ringing sounds when moved. It was dead quiet when I moved it around while playing with footers. Does anything seem loose inside? If the box was dropped hard enough to shift the front panel slightly, it may have loosened or jarred something else as well.

My Ref 110 has KT120 tubes and also makes no sound when moved. I do use Herbie's tube dampers on all the 6H30 tubes in my system. But that would not affect on the KT120 tubes.

[birdland]

Thank you for the quick responses. Let me clarify what I meant.

With respect to the KT120/KT150 tubes, they ring when you run your hand over them. My used REF 150 doesn't make a noise if I move it either. However, when I brought the amp to my tech who is authorized to repair Audio Research products, he told me how these tubes ring and showed me. He said imagine what a REF 750 sounds like when I run my hand over its KT120 tubes. He is not as enamored by the KT120/KT150 tubes as everyone seems to be. He doesn't like the fact that their innards seem to vibrate by design. He would rather have a 6550 tube if he had to have those types of tubes.

Keep in mind that he is more of a low power amp/high efficiency speaker kind of person so there may be some bias there as well. After all, who doesn't have their preferences in this hobby?

With respect to the REF 5SE and rattling/ringing, it is hard for me to describe the sound so rattling/ringing isn't exactly right. Also, I just tried to move the preamp on the Herbies Audio tenderfeet and it doesn't make noise either. I guess it has to be jarred harder than I thought or maybe the noise was easier to hear because I had the top cover off while I was working on it and moving it around quite a bit. It is probably not an issue.

Most likely, I'll bring REF 5SE to the tech I mentioned to have it checked out when I bring my LS25 over for a check up before I put it up for sale.

[cleeds]

Originally Posted by birdland

... 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 don't have this issue with my Ref 5SE.

[Harlequin]

birdland....You might just be overthinking this one somewhat, relax and give yourself time to familiarise with your new kit. And then, since you have no warrenty to consider, find yourself a tested NOS GE 6550A, you may just thank me in the end!

[birdland]

Originally Posted by Harlequin

birdland....You might just be overthinking this one somewhat, relax and give yourself time to familiarise with your new kit. And then, since you have no warrenty to consider, find yourself a tested NOS GE 6550A, you may just thank me in the end!

Yes most likely just being extremely paranoid.

And where would I find a tested NOS GE 6550A? Do we trust these tubes from tube depot when they are in stock?

[brad225]

Any updates on the new 5SE.

[birdland]

Hi Brad:

The preamp is settling in nicely. The tubes now have about 14 hours on them. Thanks for asking.

Strangely, I've always had Herbie's Audio Labs Tenderfeet under my LS25 but when I transferred them to the REF 5SE, I found the hi-end muddied and the bass exaggerated. (There's that word again.)

So I took them off. I then removed the Audio Research tube dampeners and installed the Ultrasonic RX-9 dampeners and then played with the Tenderfeet again. This time, the highs did not seem to be affected by the Tenderfeet but the bass was tighter but NOT exaggerated - very strange.

I am able to hear differences very easily with this preamp.

I have rearranged the equipment on my stand. I moved the preamp to the bottom shelf so it isn't on the shelf right below the Rhea phono preamp. I was afraid I would cook my phono preamp.

Unfortunately, I have a new Shunyata Sigma HC power cord on my amp and a relatively new Alpha HC power cord (that came from the amp) on the preamp so I have to wait for things to settle down a bit.

[brad225]

It's an odd lot we are. When it makes sense to start a sentence with "Unfortunately" and refer to your new Sigma and Alpha power cords.

[2fastdriving]

Originally Posted by brad225

It's an odd lot we are. When it makes sense to start a sentence with "Unfortunately" and refer to your new Sigma and Alpha power cords.

Hahaha! No kidding!