Arc-PH-5 what tubes should I use

35.00 is the way to go...and buy more vinyl with the savings.

Paying $90 for new RAM tubes is ridiculous when these are likely Sovtek or EH "hand-picked" tubes. You can buy 6 or 7 of these at places such as here for $90 and surely 4 will be fine for your PH-5. I'd bet that all would be as good as the RAM or ARC tubes. Call this dealer for advice and see if he is will to let you try various tubes. As you can see, there are many brands stocked here.

Since the PH5 uses a solid-state input gain stage, the tubes in this unit are not used in a high-gain MC stage and thus you DO NOT NEED ultra-low-noise phono stage tubes that often cost a significant premium more.

You can get killer deals on several other tubes from many online-tube dealers that will take your unit's performance beyond what even the people at ARC have likely never heard it sound. As for paying $35 for the tubes at ARC, that too is equally ridiculous. There is no black magic that ARC or any other electronics manufacturer does to these mediocre-performing russian tubes.

You invested in a tube product. If $50-100 is your budget, then stick with Sovtek or EH for the quad. If you want much higher performance, do your homework here first. Read through the forums here on suggested tube dealers and other ideas for 6DJ8, 6922, 7308 tubes. If you are truly willing to spend $400 for a quad of tubes, look for advice on Amperex 6922 pinched waist or Valvo to start. Telefunken 6DJ8 can be awesome too as well as the Amperex and Mullard 6922.

Jafox's response is spot-on. The 6922s from ARC are likely Sovteks. ARC will test them and screen for low noise, so they do offer value. Other tube vendors will do the same, some for half the cost you quoted. Fwiw, you are not limited to 6922s; 6DJ8s and 7308s work fine in the PH5 and PH7.

You can get a quad of Amperex Bugle Boy 6DJ8s for under $100 that will crush any current production tubes.

show this thread to your dealer

The best I have tried are 6H23N's these can be had for silly money,about $4 a pop,speak to Anton at gstube.com.

ARC gear has always had an affinity with Amperex tubes especially the 6922 types. These just spank any of the Russian variety’s including the 6H23N's which are only marginally better than your garden variety Sovtek tube.

My favorites are either the pinched waist 6922’s or 7308’s from Holland. A quad of either will set you back a serious chunk of change. Good alternatives which are still miles ahead of stock tubes are either bugle boys or orange globes.