I have recently had the opportunity to listen to these new amps from ARC. In my opinion they are the best this company has ever produced. They are incredibly clear and dynamic with seemingly endless headroom and at the same time without any harshness or fowardness. I heard them up against a few of my current favorite tube amps and they are truly something special. They have a sense of dynamics that is unsurpased in a tube amp yet they never seem to be pushed or give you the feeling they are running out of "gas" Bravo ARC
Wow...that is saying something, though Steve is by far the better authority on the big amp. I also wonder if they discontinued the 610T...because they are going to announce a 650 in the next 12-18 months?
Well I owned the Ref 600 Mk lll even though Dave Gordon tried to dissuade me. The 70 tubes in the amps and preamp resulted in my putting in a 3rd Central air conditioner for just my room. It sure sounded great however
A very good friend of mine here changed his 610T for a Ref 250 and he tells me sound quality has definitely improved though he still feels the 610T gives out ultimately a sense of more power and ease, understandably. Though in my perception, the comparison can still boil down to differences in tube used, the 6550 vs the KT120, aside from the obvious design improvements. Clearly, it shows that the ARC people do not feel too confident about the 6550 tube. I am not a fan of the 6550 either.
With the exception of the D-90, yes. There seems to be a problem now with current production 6550 tubes. SED 6550s have dried up and the rest of the available new production 6550 tubes seem to have issues. It seems that OEMs are migrating to the new KT-120. The guy that I sold my Jadis Defy 7 MKII to just emailed on Monday complaining that he blew two of the Gold Lion reissue KT-88s. He has had the amp since June and never checked the bias. His tech charged him $1000 to replace the tubes and two cathode fuses. What a rip. I'm just glad it's not my problem anymore.
Steve, ARC has been 'updating' 6550 units of VS115 and even the 610T since last year with KT120 tubes and upping the price as well for such changes. Same old models but 2 different set of tube types, prior to the Ref 250.
Steve, ARC has been 'updating' 6550 units of VS115 and even the 610T since last year with KT120 tubes and upping the price as well for such changes. Same old models but 2 different set of tube types, prior to the Ref 250.
With the exception of the D-90, yes. There seems to be a problem now with current production 6550 tubes. SED 6550s have dried up and the rest of the available new production 6550 tubes seem to have issues. It seems that OEMs are migrating to the new KT-120. The guy that I sold my Jadis Defy 7 MKII to just emailed on Monday complaining that he blew two of the Gold Lion reissue KT-88s. He has had the amp since June and never checked the bias. His tech charged him $1000 to replace the tubes and two cathode fuses. What a rip. I'm just glad it's not my problem anymore.
I think that the availability problem with the 6550c is partially due to distribution, as in the past we could easily get original Svetlana / SED 6550C manufactured in the St. Petersburg factory in Europe.
But I too prefer the KT120 - a month with the ARC REF150 spoiled me. Easily one the best sounding amplifiers I ever used. Unhappily my Soundlabs need more power.
