ARC Ref 3: Tung-Sol 6550 in power supply?

That's very interesting Ethannnn. Would you care characterizing in some detail the sonic results of the various tubes you tried on Ref 3? Thanks, G.

My recollection were all Genalexes had truer midranges. The Gold Lion was most detailed and dynamic, the Gold Monarch was most neutral, and the GEC was most full bodied. The GEC had the most impact while the other two were more subtle. In my system, the midrange magic of the GEC outweighed its shortcomings.

I know Ethannn and find him to be an honest audiophile. He has been to my house several years back and is an ardent tube roller. What he says about the mid range is exactly what I found and for those who love mid range any and all KT88's instead of the 6550 is the way to go BUT at the expense of deep bass. So pick your poison. How come Posbwp555 was unable to answer my question with all of his $20K in stockpiled NOS tubes.

Thank you Ethannnn, info very much appreciated. Guido

First listening tests with NOS Tung Sol 6550 Black Plate on board are very encouraging. After 10h of break in, I'm confident to say that my system never sounded better in the following areas:

1. Purity of tone
2. Resolution
3. HF extension and air
4. HF clarity and purity
5. Soundstage depth and image bloom
6. Musiacal Flow

Supprisingly, changes are rather dramatic and similar in character to an interconnect or a speaker cable change - unlike substituting 6H30 tubes with their DR alternatives, which brought only minor improvements (so far, I have only tried DR tubes in my Ref 110 power amp, but my guess is that the effect will be similar in Ref 3).

This is the best $400 I have spent on my system in a long time. I cannot recommend this change highly enough. If you really haven't heard the Ref 3 with a NOS 6550 tube on board - then you haven't heard what Ref 3 can do.