Rodman, I don't know which ARC preamps you've owned, but the later ones with onboard phonostages (like the SP-14) use a single tube for gain in the phonostage only. The other tubes in a "tube" preamp provide source input buffering -- thus leveling the (input impedance) playing field for the various sources. This makes it easier for all the sources (including phono after being amplified in the phono section) to drive an amplifier.
Further, because tubes are high impedance devices, many "tube" preamps actually use solid state output stages because of their low (versus high for tubes) output impedance. Why? Because the lower a preamp's output impedance compared to an amplifier's input impedance (1 to 100 is considered excellent, 1 to 10 is absolute minimum) the more faithful the frequency response to the original source signal, and the farther the distance over which you can run interconnects (even single-ended interconnects) without signal loss or noise pickup.
So Rodman, if you've "found tube rolling worked wonders in quite a few pre-amps over the years" I'm not saying you're wrong, but I'd like to know two things:
1.) What do you mean by "wonders"? For instance, rolling an ultra quiet tube in place of a noisy tube is not a "wonder" it's just common sense. The sonics really won't change because a preamp if it's any good will remain neutral. The sound will come through against a blacker background if the tubes are quiet; for a REALLY quiet background, a quality SS preamp is just the ticket IMO.
2.) Where in the ARC preamp circuit is/are the tubes in question? If they are in the phonostage, they don't count for this discussion, because that exception has already been noted. If they (actually "it") is in the power supply, you have to be talking about an SP-8 (introduced in 1981) which did have ONE tube in an otherwise solid state electronically-regulated power supply. All other ARC preamps before and to the present, had/have ss power supplies.
Certainly in some of the 'all-tube' (except power supply) ARC preamps, there is ample opportunity to try different brands/types of tubes, but even ARC is always talking about better performance in terms of lower noise tubes, not in terms of better sonics (i.e. frequency distribution, detail etc.) Of course ARC has the (dubious) reputation for making the most SS-sounding tube equipment there is ;-)
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Further, because tubes are high impedance devices, many "tube" preamps actually use solid state output stages because of their low (versus high for tubes) output impedance. Why? Because the lower a preamp's output impedance compared to an amplifier's input impedance (1 to 100 is considered excellent, 1 to 10 is absolute minimum) the more faithful the frequency response to the original source signal, and the farther the distance over which you can run interconnects (even single-ended interconnects) without signal loss or noise pickup.
So Rodman, if you've "found tube rolling worked wonders in quite a few pre-amps over the years" I'm not saying you're wrong, but I'd like to know two things:
1.) What do you mean by "wonders"? For instance, rolling an ultra quiet tube in place of a noisy tube is not a "wonder" it's just common sense. The sonics really won't change because a preamp if it's any good will remain neutral. The sound will come through against a blacker background if the tubes are quiet; for a REALLY quiet background, a quality SS preamp is just the ticket IMO.
2.) Where in the ARC preamp circuit is/are the tubes in question? If they are in the phonostage, they don't count for this discussion, because that exception has already been noted. If they (actually "it") is in the power supply, you have to be talking about an SP-8 (introduced in 1981) which did have ONE tube in an otherwise solid state electronically-regulated power supply. All other ARC preamps before and to the present, had/have ss power supplies.
Certainly in some of the 'all-tube' (except power supply) ARC preamps, there is ample opportunity to try different brands/types of tubes, but even ARC is always talking about better performance in terms of lower noise tubes, not in terms of better sonics (i.e. frequency distribution, detail etc.) Of course ARC has the (dubious) reputation for making the most SS-sounding tube equipment there is ;-)
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