Well, purchased a pair of Amperex NOS USN-CEP's from a reputable company that had test result and guarantees. Prior I had those grand dragons and they sounded dry, the voices were nasal and the bass was too tight. With the Amperex, the warmth came back, the voices sounded natural and the music had some pace to it. Amazing the difference that two little "light bulbs" make in the sound..... Highly recommend.....
ARC SP9 MK2 tubes
I have just upgraded, or thought I did, from a Counterpoint SA3 running through a B&K PT3 series 2 pre into a B&K Ref 4420 amp. I replaced the Counterpoint and B&K pre with a ARC SP 9 mk 2. Speakers are Vandersteen 2CE Signatures. CD is the Adcom 600. TT is a Thorens 160 with a Linn Basik arm and Goldring 1012 cartridge.
I really liked the warmth and lack of grain when I ran the Counterpont through the B&K. I used the loudness switch on to gain bass as my room does not yield solid bass response.
When I put the ARC in its place last night, the sound changed quite a bit. When playing te CD I detect some grain and hardness but the imaging and detail are good. Since the ARC has no tone controls, the highs seem to roll off a bit so I will probably increase the highs on the speakers a bit. The tubes are "Grand Dragon" which I guess must be Chinese tubes. Never heard of them.
For you ARC 9 users, what tubes have worked for you and has anyone heard of Grand Dragon Tubes.
I am thinking maybe the B&K and ARC are not a good match. I experienced similar results when I ran a Sunfire reference pre through the B&K. Do B&K amps only sound good with B&K Preamps?
Looking for advice and opinions..
Eagleman
I really liked the warmth and lack of grain when I ran the Counterpont through the B&K. I used the loudness switch on to gain bass as my room does not yield solid bass response.
When I put the ARC in its place last night, the sound changed quite a bit. When playing te CD I detect some grain and hardness but the imaging and detail are good. Since the ARC has no tone controls, the highs seem to roll off a bit so I will probably increase the highs on the speakers a bit. The tubes are "Grand Dragon" which I guess must be Chinese tubes. Never heard of them.
For you ARC 9 users, what tubes have worked for you and has anyone heard of Grand Dragon Tubes.
I am thinking maybe the B&K and ARC are not a good match. I experienced similar results when I ran a Sunfire reference pre through the B&K. Do B&K amps only sound good with B&K Preamps?
Looking for advice and opinions..
Eagleman
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