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ARC tube CD players - Burn in

My new ARC cd9 joined a Jeff Rowland integrated and Dynaudio c1 signatures.

Was advised to just listen and not run continuous for burn in. In other words turn off when not listening. After approx 50 hours of use I find many CDs mids and especially highs sound harsh and fatiguing.

Would appreciate any comments regarding sonic change as more hours are put on. Was expecting a warm sonic signature with lots of wonderful detail. Will that arrive after more hours? And if so should I run continuously to speed up the process?

Any comments would be appreciated.
yashu

Showing 2 responses by riparian

riparian
9 posts
 
About 3 months ago, I purchased an ARC CD8, which ought to be similar to the CD9. The paperwork that came with the CD8 mentioned that break-in should take up to 600 hours. So far, I have about 180-200 hours of music played on it. I haven't experienced fatiguing or harsh sounding music, however it took (still taking?) a while for the sound to open up, and the bass to be more present. I just listen to the music and try not to worry about the break-in.

Be patient, bear with it, and it ought to slowly sound better. One tweak I can recommend is that if the CD9 came with a 6550WE tube, replace the 6550WE with a Winged C 6550C. My CD8 came with a 6550WE. After changing the 6550WE to a Winged C 6550C, the CD8 is more musical, and the change is an audible improvement.
riparian
9 posts
 
Yashu,
It can be confusing with Russian vacuum tube manufacturers. SED (Svetlana Eletron Devices)is another Russian company which bought the name, and makes a 6550C. If there is no Winged C, that isn't the one you want. The =C= SED (Winged C) logo is used by the company formerly known as Svetlana. The key is to get a 6550C with the Winged C logo (also says SED).

I don't believe the Winged C 6550C tubes are manufactured anymore, and that is a possible reason why ARC does not provide them with new electronics. Maybe someone from ARC could comment on that.

It is important to get a Winged C 6550C from a reputable tube dealer. Apparently (I cannot verify this) there are some substandard Winged C tubes in circulation.
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