Howdy folks, greetings from Melbourne.
Just joined the forum from a referral from Fred; saw me on audio review .com
Yes! I have tried the new KT120's from tung sol on my MV60SE and it is now in a different league! Partnered with the ACT2 preamp it drives my Quad ESL 2905's beautifully. Infact when I first discovered this back in 2010 I emailed Lew and Ed at c-j and told them all about it. From the highs to lows it's defintely a level above the trusted 6550's; and about all the tubes I have heard so far on pentode /ultralinear config. Of course my Lamm ML1.1 amps are SE tubes class A rating with just 80 watts to drive virtually anything, hence mate better with the Alexandria's.
However, the mv60se with the KT120 and Quad ESL system seem to be in full sync & full bliss together for some reason... sound far more musical than with Lamm's driving the Quads. Don't know why this is a better match? The Lamm's reproduction off the Quads is too lively for me with greater impact and more forceful notes, which I am not too fond of. I guess they match better driving the Alexandria's.
Those of you who have tried swapping the 6550c tubes for KT120's on your c-j gear, go for it! You will be pleasently surprised. Of course the c-j design team haven't yet optimized the existing circuit for the use with KT120's or even the KT90's for that matter; they still sound bloody fantastic even at half the power! just wait till c-j puts out a new power amp with KT120's with the full circuit, it will be a good run with the ARC ref 150.
I tried the ARC ref 150, and it is a very nice amplifier. Excellent dynamics and sonic launch, almost bought it, but for that price I managed to get hold of a pair of carefully used ML1.1 monoblocks, hence I settled for that. But some time soon I will get that new Audio research ref 150!
I'm heading overseas tomorrow and hope to touch base with some mates in KL & Spore, will be based there for a while. I am after a matching preamp for my ML1.1's. I prefer to keep the ACT2 partnered with the mv60se & Quad system. The Alexandria's are in a different league, hence just seems to work better with the Lamm's.
Any suggestions are welcome!
Cheers and have a good one,
RJ