I'm with Brulee on the CJs being too colored. In my amp search i listened to the 12s, the vt100, a pass 60 watter (forgot the number) an wound up with vtl 185's. A used pair of 185s should be in the $3k to $3.5k range. The VTLs are a tad warmer than the ARC, especially in triod. the bass remains very solid and tight, midrange is very lifelike and open, again especially in triode. soundstage is wonderfull but i think i'll blame that on my dunlavy's.
The tetrode/triode switch is a wonderful feature i don't think anyone else provides. For small group acoustic music triode provides a sence of realism that cannot be found in tetrode. Tetrode about doubles the power and provides the thump that's needed for orchestras and electric music.
as a comment to jayctoy's cable suggestions: i use the truth links on my system because of the bang for the buck being very high, especially on the 4m run i needed. The pro silways II worked well between the amp and the pre (VTL 5.5)in combination with truthlinks upstream, or between analog and the preamp. putting silways between digital (ARC CD-2) and the pre, however, was pretty harsh, to the point where the harshness could not be outweighted by the added airyness and detail the silways provide. bass is a bit tighter with the silways as well but not as deep.
The tetrode/triode switch is a wonderful feature i don't think anyone else provides. For small group acoustic music triode provides a sence of realism that cannot be found in tetrode. Tetrode about doubles the power and provides the thump that's needed for orchestras and electric music.
as a comment to jayctoy's cable suggestions: i use the truth links on my system because of the bang for the buck being very high, especially on the 4m run i needed. The pro silways II worked well between the amp and the pre (VTL 5.5)in combination with truthlinks upstream, or between analog and the preamp. putting silways between digital (ARC CD-2) and the pre, however, was pretty harsh, to the point where the harshness could not be outweighted by the added airyness and detail the silways provide. bass is a bit tighter with the silways as well but not as deep.