ARC LS2 tube life?


What happens to sound when tube is worn out (6922)? Seem to have lost upper octaves & air etc. Is there better replacement tube or upgrades available?

A
antonw
Thanks a lot guys!

I looked into the Great Northern site & like the it a lot & will likely take advice/purchase tube from them.

First I need to isolate my system to see what's causeing the H/F loss (at least an octave) as well as lack of air, depth/width of soundstage. I just bought a pr of used Gallo Nucleus Solos this week & hooked up my system after being idle for a few years after selling ML-Sequel II's.
At this point I hope the reason is a worn tube & not a faulty tweeter or something!

A
Since you've owned your LS2 for a while you likely know what you are missing. I can say that mine can sound very analytical when combined with my SET amp and I would never use that combination, but with my push/pull it is magic. Swapping out speakers though will likely make a big difference in how your system sounds and the two speakers you mention are quite different in size and character. BTW I recommend GNS and Steve Huntley for their modifications but have absolutely no experience in purchasing tubes from Steve. That is not to say you should not, but I want to make that detail clear. He definitely knows the ARC products though having worked for them for many years. I buy my tubes from Jon up at The Tube Store in Canada. He certainly knows his tubes, as does Andy at Vintage, and Kevin at Upscale.

Good luck!

Marco
Thks Marco,

Appreciate your advice!

Will not be able to upgrade LS2 now (perhaps just tube), it's not the weak link by far. Amp is stock Ayre V3.
Desparately need to replace Pioneer PD-52 cd player, add power conditioning & room treatment as well as solving missing h/f problem 1st.
Just saw the Njoe Tjoeb 4000 in Nov Stereophile. Said it (output impedence 170 ohms) need to pair w/pre-amp with input impedence over 10k ohms. Is the LS2's over 10k ohms?

bye, Anton