ARC Ref 3: Tung-Sol 6550 in power supply?

So Posbwp555

It seems to me that so far most of the people that have been doing tube rolling on their Ref3's are coming back to the ARC tubes.

Once again there is a difference b/n hearing something different than hearing something better and I still maintain that tube rolling on this unit is unnecessary..but heck what do I know?

I will be swapping my $1200 Ming DA 2A3 preamp with a friend who owns a Ref 3. I had my pre up to his house for a comparison with his Ref 3 last weekend and it was a tossup. Some things done better by one and some better by the other. The tubeset in the Ming DA cost more than the preamp. It would not be competeive without these tubes. The Ming DA had all the stock caps and resistors when the comparison was conducted (inexpensive components that do not do justice to the preamp but unavoidable at the asking price). We then installed two blackgate power supply and two Mundorf SIO output caps in the Ming DA. This tightened the bass dramatically (even without proper burn in of about 300 hours) and eliminated the area in which the Ref 3 outperformed the Ming DA. To my ears it is superior to the Ref 3 in all parameters at this stage. We intend to address the resistors, tube sockets and rails next. I will use his Ref 3 for about a month while he uses the Ming DA. I have invested over $20,000 in an NOS tube collection over the past four years (I am trying to acquire a lifetime supply of the very best NOS before they are gone). If you are convinced that the SED 6550C is the ideal tube in the Ref 3, great. I would be very interested in hearing what Elberoth thinks of the Tung Sol when he tries it. Assumptions are often incorrect in this hobby. Experimentation is what helps us progress.

Bart

"Assumptions are often incorrect in this hobby. Experimentation is what helps us progress."

I completly agree. What I did say was "been there, done that and decided originals were best for my ears". Others seem to have the same feeling.

BTW by the time your NOS collection is gone today's stock tubes will be the NOS tubes of tomorrow. Just a thought but perhaps you should be stockpiling some current generation tubes for listening 30 years from now.

"Assumptions are often incorrect in this hobby. Experimentation is what helps us progress."

That's correct. . . and that's why I gave Tungsol 6550 a valiant try for several weeks. . . then went back to 6550C for good. G.

"That's correct. . . and that's why I gave Tungsol 6550 a valiant try for several weeks. . . then went back to 6550C for good. G."

so now let's recap. Other than Posbwp555 is there anyone here who agrees that there is a better choice on the Ref3 than the ARC installed 6550C. I have tried them all and when all is said and done IMO there is absolutely no reason to tube roll on the Ref3. BTW, I posed a question to all the tube rollers that is yet unanswered has anyone tried a KT88 in place of all of the different 6550's?

Posbwp555
I am glad that you have stockpiled a collection of $20,000 NOS tubes. Given that most tubes can go easily 5000 and probably 20,000 hours you can leave the balance of your collection to your grandchildren. I also commented in all sincerity that you should be stockpiling today's tubes as in 20-30 years they will be the NOS tubes of tomorrow