ARC Ref 75 vs. Ref 75 SE

I did.

An audiophile acquaintance has only recently completed his home trial period with an ARC REF 5SE / REF 75 combo, and has part Ex'd his previous incumbent EAR 912, much preferring the REF5SE, whilst giving serious consideration to moving on his, and In his words,

"Far less musical" 509's , the ARC combo are staying with him!

I have a friend that has all EAR gear and he claims it's the best stuff out there. The problem is he never heard the reference gear from ARC or VAC.
I personally think he doesn't want to for the fear of liking it and getting rid of his equipment. And also if that happened he could not claim EAR as being the best.

07-15-15: Bifwynne

Have tubes arced and taken out bias resisters?? Yes!! But how often?? Maybe once or twice a year. And since I've been using KT-120 and KT-150 power tubes, tube arcing has been a very rare occurrence.

Cost of repair is about $100. There's an ARC authorized tech who lives near me and who makes house calls.

Bifwynne, do you keep track source of tubes that arc? Results will justisfy whether one should pay premium for ARC tubes.