Audio Research REF 3


Dear all ARC REF 3 owners,
I just bought an REF 3 preamp which has replaced my LS25MKII preamp. To be honest i'm little disappointed by the result so far, but i guess tubes have to be replaced. My concern is especially on the sound image which is not precise as my LS25MKII image was.
The number of hours of used displayed by the my REF 3 is 1670 but i realized that hours counter increased only for full hours of used, so i can estimate the number of hours of the tubes inside my REF 3 to be the double i guess.
My question is the following
What do you recommend for tubes replacement and source for the replacement of REF 3 tubes.
I used sovtek, EH gold, and 6H30-DR on my LS25MKII and i was pleased with all those tubes even if i didn't find the DR much better than the 2 other brands.
Thanks in advance
ARCL60
arcl60

Showing 2 responses by mitch4t

Jwm,.......the Ref3 is not leaner. Guidocorona's explanation says it all.

The Ref2 Mk2 is a great preamp by any standard, and the Ref3 totally eclipsed it.
Yeah, something must be wrong. I moved to the Ref3 from the Ref2 mk2 and the difference was astounding. As Guidocorona said above, get some new tubes before you rush to judgement.

The Ref3 is a monster.

Be sure and report back to us your findings after re-tubing and burn-in.