Speaking of Roger, he recommended three feet of space above his RM-200 amp, which ran 6550 (or KT88) tubes.
But ARC has a new option for you. Right on schedule, the New! Improved! REF 6SE is now available. Step right up ;-) .
Problem with Ref 5SE
My pre amp and amp both sit on the top of a cabinet. They get plenty of ventilation. Same thing at my dealer. Both of his demos are on the top of a cabinet and not in a rack. When my pre amp has been on for an hour or so the area directly on top of the 6550 tube gets so hot you cant put your hand on it. With the brand new tubes from ARC the amp is dead quiet and sounds fantastic. It just runs hot. The demo at the dealer seems to run just as hot. The dealer has sold many ref 5 and 6's and experienced no problems created by the heat. I'm surprised that your 5 se has no signs of heat distortion on top of the 6550 tube. When you put your hand on top of the 6550 is it hot? |
I have not checked how hot the tube had been running, currently the top cover is unscrewed (so I was able to access tubes). If I get home early enough I will take a look around the tube and see if there is any evidence of prolonged high heat exposure. Just got word that tubes are shipping today so I should have them on Thursday and be able to answer a lot of questions Thursday night. |
motorheadflash I'm surprised that your 5 se has no signs of heat distortion on top of the 6550 tube. When you put your hand on top of the 6550 is it hot?Yes, it gets quite hot, as all the Ref preamps do. But the plastic top does not deform - it has plenty of ventilation. |
Thanks for the information. It is good to know that my heat problem may not be as bad as I thought. When I installed the new tube set it ran as hot as it did when it was new four years ago. I'm going to take your advice and order a single 6550 and have it on hand to replace at 2000 hours. One mystery that I didn't mention before is that my ref 5SE did not come with a plastic top, it came with a metal top. I like the looks of the metal top better, but the dealer says that the plastic top sounds better. I wonder if the plastic top lets the heat out better than the metal one. The metal top has the exact same pattern of slots in it as the plastic top on the dealer demo. Thanks again for your reply . It's good to hear from another 5 SE owner |