Going down the tubes

Audio Components Preamplifiers
21

Throw in a bevy of nos Amperex 7316’s into the DP pre and you can call it a day…:+1: add some Brimar nos rectifiers and you can call it game over…:grin:

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ARC is the bomb. No comparison. Just got this super clean used VS115. 120wpc. Mind-bogglingly fab. Idles at 400w, mind you… :laughing: So works well as a space heater this time of year. Of course this is an amp. Have the 5SE Pre.

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image2957×3019 1.93 MB

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No doubt ARC has made some great sounding tube gear. I once owned an VT200, 140 lbs of great sounding iron in one chassis. One of the reasons I no longer have it was idle power consumption: 900 watts!

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Nice! Let me know if you see one for sale - a friend of mine is looking for one.

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Looks great! Reminds me a bit on my preamp…would make a good couple :wink:

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image3865×2652 1.98 MB

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That’s a beaut!

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Made it so, didn’t like the crome everywhere :wink:

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Have the 5SE in a rack with the top off, so hard to get a shot of it, but here’s one side of it:

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image4032×3024 3.49 MB

And here you can see what’s behind the transformers on the VS115:
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image2874×3320 2.37 MB

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This one tube looks big for a pre…

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yeah - there’s a 6550C and 6H30P in the power supply.

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Interesting that you’ve moved over to ARC. I’m patiently waiting for a Ref 6SE or a 40th Anniversary Pre and a Ref 150 to come up at a good price.

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Them’s some beautiful pieces :metal:t2:

Currently moved the Vitus onto the LS50 Metas with VTL pre :stuck_out_tongue_closed_eyes:. Overkill, but sounds good. The Metas sounded even better with the ARC, of course. :man_shrugging:t2: They really like tubes.

1 Like
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You realize you could be waiting a long time for that, right? :stuck_out_tongue_closed_eyes:

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A good price is relative

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True. The used 5SE was half retail, so - goodish!

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I’ve curbed my impulse purchases, with great difficulty. The longer I wait the more in my kitty for “mad money “. I’ve decided to be more strategic in my purchases.

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Good for you! :fist:t2:

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I’m not immune to impulse buying but not of preamp and amp components–I’m sold on those I own completely–and am glad I have them now as orders for them have gone through the roof since one of the company’s amps was named as a product of the year, and there will be even more of a waiting list and lag time as the sister amp to my Monoblocks will soon appear in a review in Stereophile.

For me, ever since my childhood with my Dad’s Dynaco system it’s been tubes tubes tubes, and I keep going down and down in amplilfier power and finding the sound better!