AR Ref 600 question's


I actually own a pair of Ref 600 II, with eidolon diamond's and cj act 2 preamp. I find the sound outstanding for imaging and power, but the ref's sound is a little on the dry side, compared with my previous cat amp's.
My question's basuically are two:
1)retubing with kt 88: a good idea? witch kind of tubes?
2) retubing 6922: mullard nos, amperex bb or telefunken nos?or other brand?
Thank you very much for help....
Alexander
alexismaster
I owned the Ref 600 Mk lll and like you found similar esults and retubed with KT 88's. Made a world of difference. Eventually I sold the Ref 600's and bought my present amp...the Lamm ML 2.1 which IMO is a much finer amp
Thank you. witch brand of kt 88 tubes?
I considered the Lamm... but the eidolon's are to hungry for the lamm's.
Thank you. Do you know differences between Ar ref Ref II and Ref III?
And you never tried to change the 6922 tubes with nos tubes? They should make a big differences...
Last question: Lamm 2.1 with 18 W: enough for Alexandria?
Best regard's
Alex
Alex

I own the X-2 Alexandria which I drove initially with ARC Reference 600 Mk lll and now with the Lamm ML 2.1...the first amp at 600 wpc push-pull and the second an SET at 18 wpc. Bear in mind that the X-2 is rated at 95 DB so suffice it to say that not only is there enough power to drive the speakers with the ML 2.1's but I can do it to near ear bleeding SPL. Only once have I made the amp clip. IMO the Lamm is the finest amp I have ever owned. The only way I would sell it would be to buy Vladimir's new ML 3 SET which
puts out 32 wpc in pure Class A. I am presently auditioning this amp in my room now and I can tell everyone reading this thread that this amp is the one against which all others will be judged. I have heard the Sigfrid and the ARC 610T and they are wonderful amps but don't come anywhere near as good as Vladimir's new ML 3. Only problem is they are $139K so start saving your money because to own this amp is to have reached audio nirvana.
Gerrym5

I can honestly say that I have heard most of the best systems in this country and would like to think that my system ranks with some of the best until this past week when I have had the rare pleasure of auditioning serial numbers 1 and 2 of Vladimir's ML3 Reference. It was a jaw dropping experience. As he describes on his web page the soundstage is 3 dimensional and it truly is. There is a presence and openess (without being bright) that what I thought exists in my ML 2.1's is present in a manner that I have not experienced in my 35 years of being involved in this hobby. Fortunately these amps are on loan for the next several weeks. I don't know how I will be able to send these amps back. Anything else just sounds broken.