Dennis,
I got into this a while ago when I owned an ARC VT130se. This particular amp required 4 matched 6550's since the bias adjust controlled all 4 of them. There were 8 total.
After contacting a couple of tube persons and waisting time and money on testers, (AVO 160, Hickok 539b & TV DU/7) I came to the conclusion that you're better off finding a trusted source to do this for you with power tubes. I had good luck with Jim Mcshane and Andy Bowman at Vintage Tube. I would have to agree that the maxi matcher would be your best bet if you were going to try this yourself. Note that I still use my testers for testing tube condition and signal tube comparisons.
As I understand it, an accurate way to see if the tubes are matched is to test their plate current while they are idling on your amp. Tube testors don't have the equivelant power that your ARC amp probably has. I have been told this by a number of authorities on this.
You would have to collect a number of tubes to find a matched set.
I've been told that the plate current at the Amp's equivelant current level is what you match to.
Regarding matching, note that ARC uses a push pull method for its power tube - that's why they should be matched.
The tester that I like is the TV7 D/U. There's a lot of them out there and there's a well respected person, Dan Nelson that calibrates them.
If you need further sharing of my experiences with this, drop me an email. I don't consider myself an authority on tubes but I have played around this stuff quite a bit.
Steve
I got into this a while ago when I owned an ARC VT130se. This particular amp required 4 matched 6550's since the bias adjust controlled all 4 of them. There were 8 total.
After contacting a couple of tube persons and waisting time and money on testers, (AVO 160, Hickok 539b & TV DU/7) I came to the conclusion that you're better off finding a trusted source to do this for you with power tubes. I had good luck with Jim Mcshane and Andy Bowman at Vintage Tube. I would have to agree that the maxi matcher would be your best bet if you were going to try this yourself. Note that I still use my testers for testing tube condition and signal tube comparisons.
As I understand it, an accurate way to see if the tubes are matched is to test their plate current while they are idling on your amp. Tube testors don't have the equivelant power that your ARC amp probably has. I have been told this by a number of authorities on this.
You would have to collect a number of tubes to find a matched set.
I've been told that the plate current at the Amp's equivelant current level is what you match to.
Regarding matching, note that ARC uses a push pull method for its power tube - that's why they should be matched.
The tester that I like is the TV7 D/U. There's a lot of them out there and there's a well respected person, Dan Nelson that calibrates them.
If you need further sharing of my experiences with this, drop me an email. I don't consider myself an authority on tubes but I have played around this stuff quite a bit.
Steve