I have an ARC LS 25 MK 1.........

For cheaper alternatives, some other ARC LS25 and PH3 SE owners have recommended the Russian 6H23N EB for the PH3 SE and Amperex Orange Globe 6DJ8 for the LS25.

The Amperex Orange Globe has a Orange color Globe logo on the tube. There are two types. The pre-1970 design has a ring inside, while the later version has an "A" frame. See JoeS' excellent post on tubes of this family on the Audio Asylum site.

I am running my PH3SE into my LS2B Mk II. For now, I have a matched set and a single (total of 3) Amperex 7308 white label (circa 1965) in my PH3, and a Mullard 10M 6DJ8 in my LS2. If you are interested in finding out more about my system, you can see it listed under FrankC on Audio Asylum's member systems listing.

Rwd:
I am using the VT100 MKII with my LS 25 MKI also. The combo with the NOS is awesome. A set of four 6h23 NOS will cost about $100 ($25 each)

Do you a suggest that I change my 6922's in my ARC PH3SE phono per-amp as well to NOS??? If so, any recomendations?

J_K, I heard that same setup a couple months ago at a local shop. Your right, made me want to go into debt.

I also went the way of nos(tungsram)in my ls25mk1, not a lot of money for a big improvement in performance, less noise, better base&mid range a nice improvement over the stock sovtek.

Thanks guys for all the input...to answer some questions...my power amp (for the mid/tweeter) panels is n ARC VT 100 mkll.

Good comments above. I kept my LS-25 at MK I for the NOS Tubes for the reasons stated. I have done A/B audition between the MKI & MKII and I also feel the MKI is more musical. I also feel there is a synergy if you place all of the ARC latest products together -- I heard a CD3, LS-25MKII and VTM-200s on Vandersteen 5s - Incredible!

I think the main reason for the change to MKII was to get away from the quality issues of current production 6922s. As with any update to a product, ARC made the sound better in the MKII vs. stock MKI. I would personally change to the Ref2MKI and sell the LS-25 if you were to throw more $$ at your system... my $.02..

You will get a lot of opinions on whether to switch your preamp to something else or not. I think it is all system dependent. You did not mention what amp you are using, by the way.

I will only comment on whether to upgrade or not. The cost of upgrading to Mk II is not cheap. If you don't know much about tubes, and don't want to waste time chasing down quality NOS tubes, your best bet is to spend the money and upgrade to Mk II. NOS tubes are getting more expensive and hard to find, compare to just few years ago. The general consensus is that Mk I with a good set of NOS tubes like Siemens or Amperex will sound better than the Mk II. If you want to try different tubes, check out www.audioasylum.com's tube seller list. They have a good list of reputable sellers. But if you do decide to sell your Mk I, let me know. I've been trying to chase down one for a while.

It is probably blasphemy for some, but ARC never did anything for me. You apparently know and like ARC stuff. If you would like to venture outside ARC world, i would suggest Lamm LP2 Deluxe phono-stage! I assume your amp(s)is/are ARC?

I would recommend keeping your MKI and instead upgrade the stock 6922 with other NOS tubes such as the 6H23s (6922) available from Upscale Audio, et al.

I made the same choice. I kept my MKI. I feel strongly, that the MKI with NOS is markedly more musical than the MKII version.