Dave, you make no sence: Ref2-MkII is 6H30+jfet based, by far the most SS like tube gear ARC ever made, also VT100MKIII and VT200MKII are 6H30+Jfet based.
I had the REF2MKII and it took 500 to burn and a lot of setup to play well, after sometime played really well. All reference gear from ARC are top sound they are only different versions. Funny the CD8 take 600h to burn since it does not have Jfets in the path of sound. The 6H30+Jfets worked very well in ARC Power Amps not so easy in the preamps.
Dave maybe you should check the cables or room acoustics, I had some problem with Synergistic Cable and was thinking it was my gear in the end was a damaged cable.
A very tube sound is good to cover bad links in the chain of sound, to use less tube gear sound like (Hi-Resolution) you have to have everything correct. ARC made a choice about 10years ago, they made the gear sound less tubed in order to gain in other aspects.
Here the REF3 and the CD7 upgrade, folowed by a 300.2 bi-amplification just play LIVE!
I had the REF2MKII and it took 500 to burn and a lot of setup to play well, after sometime played really well. All reference gear from ARC are top sound they are only different versions. Funny the CD8 take 600h to burn since it does not have Jfets in the path of sound. The 6H30+Jfets worked very well in ARC Power Amps not so easy in the preamps.
Dave maybe you should check the cables or room acoustics, I had some problem with Synergistic Cable and was thinking it was my gear in the end was a damaged cable.
A very tube sound is good to cover bad links in the chain of sound, to use less tube gear sound like (Hi-Resolution) you have to have everything correct. ARC made a choice about 10years ago, they made the gear sound less tubed in order to gain in other aspects.
Here the REF3 and the CD7 upgrade, folowed by a 300.2 bi-amplification just play LIVE!