ARC Ref 110 with KT 150 tubes

The thing about dealers and manufacturers to consider; for audio shows they may have also installed different value resitors, redesigned a circuit, changed a power supply, etc, etc. I'm not saying don't try KT150's, just understand the risks without blaming ARC in the event of a failure. You do understand the risks and the sound you are enjoying is the result but the 150's are so new to the market....does anyone know in what manner they will fail? All tubes fail at some point, just sayin. Have fun.

My Jolida 502p about which I often wax enthusiastic (note to English majors...I really almost never say shit like that), albeit way less expensive that the hallowed ARC brand, sounds fabulous with 150s, and I am free of the spineless "blessed by ARC" paranoia that runs wild in the ARC camp where frightened owners huddle by their message boards hoping some ARC Corp. asshat loosens his grip on the their trembling sweaty balls to allow them to utterly overpay for tubes you can get elsewhere for half of what ARC grabs from those fearful (and likely empty) pockets. Did I need a comma back there someplace? (I worry about English majors WAY too much)

Well said Wolfy. I'm tired of wining (or is it whining) about those stupid KT-150 tubes. Oh ... and who ever said I would buy KT-150s from ARC for $200 each. Talk about meshuganah. Upscale charges $100 per tube and even that is too much.

@Jamnesta -- just for fun and giggles, I dropped a (Russian new issue) Tung Sol 6550 into my ARC Ref 5 SE. It sounded just fine. As I said, ARC uses the 6550 in the power supply (PS) of its preamps and source components. I surmise that the branding is less important in the PS application as compared to the gain circuits of the amps. Just a guess.

Ghasley, I contacted one of the manufacturers using the 150's in the Ref 75 at RMAF. He told me there were no modifications, just switched tubes and biased in the same range as the 120's, couldn't be easier

As we have become accustomed to of late ! It would appear that ARC Central have circulated an, as yet, confidential memorandum amongst their distribution network in respect to an SE upgrade program for the current Ref line. This leak emanating from a source 'close to' an ARC dealer.

Initial reports make mention of $1K for Ref75 and $2K for Ref150, which if close to accurate, surely cannot include any meaningful upgrade to the Iron, therefore we may well be looking at a handfull of PSU and bias circuit components in optimising the utilization of the KT150.

Jasper.