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

"Bart, if you have some experience with tube rolling for Ref 3 that we have not covered yet, please enlighten us"

The short answer is that he can't

He can't even answer me whether he has tried a KT88 instead of the 6550

I would like to make it clear once again that I would never discourage tube rolling. I merely said that when all was said and done it seems that those of us who own the Ref3 (he doesn't) come back to the stock 6550C. I have also stated that tube rolling will produce a "different" sound but not always a "better" sound and that is what we leave to our ears, judgment and most of all experience

OK guys, I have already installed NOS Tung Sol in the PS of my Ref 3. Now I'm wondering, how much time I should allow for burn-in (this is a brand new tube) ?

Elberoth2, I would give the Tungsol a couple hundred hours of playing time at various gain levels to stabilize. G.

I would recommend the (blue label) GEC KT88 for this pre. I experimented with Gold Lions and Gold Monarchs as well. These are 3 variations of the vintage Genalex KT88, not re-issues. While the I preferred the GEC best, it leaned towards the euphonic side. Despite its imperfections, it made going back an impossibility. I decided to either use this pre with the GEC or not at all. I still have the GEC if anyone wants to try it.

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.