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Audio Research Ref. 210 questions

just got these today and was wondering about a couple things. Has anyone tried power cables other than stock? I was told by the seller that the stock cables were the best. The cables don't look like anything special to me ;) I was also wondering about footers etc.. Do any make a difference with these amps? I have them on the Adona Nemesis amps stands. Any replacement fan options - I find the too loud... How about the 6n1p tubes - anyone replace them?? Thanks for any and all info.
128x128mantis007

Showing 2 responses by downunder

downunder
1,329 posts
 
Chris

I have tried to luv SS amps quite a few times but keep on gojng back to tubes. IMO a nice tube amp will always have over its SS counterpart
- 3d soundstage where SS in comparison can sounewhat 2 dimensional and flat
- tonal meat on instruments whereas SS tends to just sound thinner
- mids and high frequencies on a great tube amp seem to float in space, flow from note to note and still be very transparent
- SS bass when volume is pumped up very loud can have a tendancy to get tighter and tighter, whereas tube bass spreads a little to give a slightly fatter sound - whicj IMO sounds more lifelike
downunder
1,329 posts
 
I had a listen to the ref 210's for a few minutes and even at low volumes in a cold room the fans were churning away LOUDLY.
I think the 210's sounded quite good, but I could not get my head around why the fans were so loud, especially since the amps did not seem hot and volume was low. I can only imagine how loud the fan would be at high volumes.

Is this normal for this amplifier??

Does cutting the fans out make reliability an issue??
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