6H30p-DR vs 6H30p Tubes


Folks,

I have been listening to Sovtek 6H30p’s tubes for almost a year now on my ARC Foundation Series components. Since acquiring ARC, I have been wondering about the uber expensive NOS Russian Reflector 6H30P-DR tubes. 

Has anyone tried these tubes in their ARC gear? What I do not know is the sonic differences between the standard Sovtek 6H30p's and the more expensive variants, including the 6H30P-DR?

If I do decided to go for them, where do you think I should start off? I am looking at 8 tubes in total, 

ARC LS28 - Pre, four 6H30’s
ARC DAC9, two 6H30’s
ARC VT-80 - Amp, two 6H30’s

I would love to hear any feedback and the equipment they were evaluated in, if different than ARC. 

Thank you!
128x128lalitk
@trelja,

Like you said, sometimes the best way to move past things is to try and get it out of your system. 

@wharfy, 

In my system, the combination of SR Black’s in my Pre and DAC, HiFi Supreme Silver in my tube amp and HiFi Supreme Cu in my source components gave the best overall tonality. 

The HiFi Supreme Cu Fuses are really special, you get that organic sound that simply draws you in. I urge anyone to try these in their digital front end. 


lalitk-how do the HiFi Supreme Fuses compare with SR fuses. I've since upgraded to the SR blues and they sound great in my AR equipment.

trelja-"sound" advice. In the end you can sell something in demand at close to cost. Then it's like a rental.
Pretty interesting topic. I’ve heard people come down passionately on each side.

I used to import a line of gear that use the tube extensively. I’ve tried the new production, gold pin versions, and supposedly, higher performing, older variants. At least in the listening sessions I had, I personally didn’t notice a difference. A lot of other people told me the same thing. That said, I’ve heard more than a few people proclaim astounding improvement.

That gives you nothing meaning to go on, and I apologize for that.  The place I sort of ended up on such topics was to leave it alone, if I could, and that's actually my recommendation to you here.  And if I couldn't, just go ahead, and do it.  Even if it didn't pan out, the peace of mind of moving on from the haunting thoughts usually proved more valuable than the actual cost
@wharfy,

Thank you for your feedback. ARC does a great job in selecting tubes for their gear. 

And I do agree with you on SR Black’s and Herbie’s dampers upgrade, all of my components already have SR black’s and HiFi Supreme Fuses. 
laltik-Have a Ref75SE and an LS-28. Both came with AR tubes. I rolled DR’s in each and after extended listening sessions I could not tell the difference.

After selling the tubes I upgraded the fuses in each to Synergistic Research blacks and the higher end Herbie's tube dampers. Those made a difference.