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

Able to contribute to the discussion around the subject. I retubed my Ref. 3. It is now about 10 hrs...Not enough but some conclusion can be shared already. I probably already mentioned to the readers that my tubes had 2800 hrs of use and I did not have any feeling that it was time to change. But following the thread I decided to do it anyway and try the Tung Sol as rectifier. I can now be sure that the ARC sounded still exactely like new. Changing all 6H30 tubes infact did not change much the sound excepted for the initial time needed to run-in them. So I guess the signal tubes can easily be used up to the 4000 hrs mentioned by Audio Research and probably exceed this limit. The other thing I can say is that the 6550 type contributes a lot to the sound characteristics. Much more than I expected. The Tung Sol makes the REf 3 more similar to the Ref 2. More on the warm side. I tend to agree with Guido. I prefer the more open and lifelike sound with the original 6550C. The sound was more aggressive and sometimes more tiring. With the Tungsol is more (I would say much more) Tube sounding. I sense the tungsol makes the internal voltage lower. I do not have the schematics to measure this, but i say that because the display looks less bright. This would explain partially what I'm hearing,...More relaxed sound, but with bass that is not tight as before and treble less defined...As if the bias of the tubes was changed. Again 10 hrs is not enough. I will come back when the tubes will reach the 100 hrs. For now I would recomend to use the original 6550C.

Up date on 6550 Tungsram after almost 100 hrs. I believe a conclusion is not easy to be made. As I posted on the other thread VTL 6.5 vs Ref. 3, the only negative on the ref.3 is that sometimes it is tiring for eccessive details. I finally would not go back to the original 6550C Winged. There is more sense of pace listening to music now. I had to tweak the speaker position a bit since the speakers can now be more apart witout loosing focus. The only doubt still remaining is on the bass that is not as tight as before. I gained in extension but missing some control. This will require probably a tweak on the Preamp foot. By the way, for Ref. 3 owners, I strongly suggest to try something different from the original foot. I found excellent results with Soundcare. Simply Do not expect to replace without some adjustment to accomodate/leverage the differences. If you need more detail go for the Original Winged C, If you need more wormth the tungsol is an excellent help.I will keep you posted on the evolution, but either way the preamp sounds glorious.

Yes Guido it is a current Tungsol. I had to buy a matched pair. I'm very intrigued by trying the Black sable as possible next experiment. Probably the result would be half way from the 2 sounds.

You are probably right Oneobgyn. Probably however we are talking about a different philosophy of "the zen of listening to music". From my experience infact, everytime I change something in my system (BTW Soon I will pubblish it to give more clarity about my listening experience), I'm prepared to maximize the benefit (If I sense there is a potential for improvement) by tweaking here and there. Sometimes even changing the Cartridge weight of 0,1 Gram forces me to change something in the system. So for me it is not strange that changing tubes I have to change something to get a new set-up. In this case I'm not saying I obtained miracles; I'm just sharing my experience and adding to the thread (And this is in accordance to Guido conclusions) that the 2 solutions give a different Sound...and that I like what I have with the new set-up because I can hear for many hours without feeling tired. On the other side I understand also that the better definition of Original 6550C is beneficial for easier interpretation of words of singers and or to catch the notes while listening to instruments. This is probably why Guido being a professional musician (I'm jealous!) is looking for the max detail and myself as a concert listener I'm looking for the closest "Concert like" experience....And I believe the current set-up is closer to the timbre I hear in Jazz concerts for a piano or classical orchestra being in the 15th row. Just to correct one sentence in your post, The bass with TS is more in quantity and extension. It is the tightness that I was mentioning as not as good as before. I look forward to getting more on the subject

As anticipated here you can find my system to better understand my findings:
http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?vopin&1220291925&view