Ref6 tube rolling

[limniscate]

The 6n6p seem very hot on the highs compared to the 6H30. I may try them with the ring dampeners.

 

[limniscate]

Do any of you get a slight click from the tubes as they warm up and when you turn the preamp off? Is it anything to be worried about?

 

[AUDIO PASSION]

i dont know for now , i ordered yesterday six 6N6P for
my REF6SE and i will let you know my feedback after some listening
test.

 

[AUDIO PASSION]

i dont know for now , i ordered yesterday six 6N6P for
my REF6SE and i will let you know my feedback after some listening
test.

Yes , same for me, when I turn off the preamp, I can hear a slight click from the tubes.

After one hour of warm-up , my first auditions were very impressive !!

effectively the sound was very good and perhaps better than the 6H30 ,

original vacuum tubes provided by AUDIO RESEARCH in my REF6SE.

The difference is most in the warmth of the sound. It was something like

a 12AX7 or a 6DJ8 .

After 50 hours of listening test or 30 days later, gradually i discovered something in the sound , the warmest in the sound disappeared and

the high frequency became different , no good !!

I decided to change all 6H6P in the audio section to all original 6H30.

SURPRISE !! OH MY GOD !

THE 6H30 ARE FANTASTIC !! Good high frequency , good image , better midrange .

I think that these 6H6P GOLD grid were most designed to drive speakers

than a preamp output in AUDIO RESEARCH.



Thanks for reading my feedback about these tubes.

 

[Argonaut]

I decided to change all 6H6P in the audio section to all original 6H30.

SURPRISE !! OH MY GOD !

THE 6H30 ARE FANTASTIC !! Good high frequency , good image , better midrange .

No Shit ! The designers and manufacturers of their equipment actually know what they are doing … well who would have thought it .

 

[AUDIO PASSION]

Hi Argonaut ,

Have you tried 6H6P in your preamp as audio drivers?

 

[morricab]

I've asked a question a while ago if anybody did some tube rolling with Ref6 and did not get any answer, hence i decided to open a new thread so interested might easier find it.
Anyhow, I have a great buddy of mine with BAT gear who several weeks ago did this exact same trick with his gear and was stunned by the change it happened. Namely he swapped 6n30 tubes (apparently super tube) with 6n6p tubes. As within my Ref6 I have the same tubes he advised to try the same. Of course I was reluctant/afraid to do so, so i did a fair share of exploring the web (no info regarding the 6n6p in ARC gear) and also talking with world class tube gear designers and they all confirmed that I can swap them without any issue.
Off to ebay and i got two tightly matched quads and used only 6 pcs for the line stage, as I did not touch the one in the power supply section of the preamp.
Have to say i was quite nervous before turning the preamp ON but as preamp warmed up without glitches moment of truth arise with turning the volume knob from 0 to listening level.
After several notes played I was already sure that something magical happened which left me in total disbelief. Totally different ball game. Music is just flowing, you can literally feel it and touch it, super palpable, notes seem to last longer, dramatically more fluid, you can feel the darkness between the notes and overall feeling is that preamp is much calmer in positive way - like it was super nervous before. Staging as well massively improved. Even my mother, who was at my place, just out of the blue commented wooow this sounds really fantastic now. I had the system on for like an hour to burn in the tubes so will play with it of course further but those babies are not leaving the preamp as to me now 6n6p really are SUPER TUBES.
All in all massive improvement on already great preamp - highly recommended.

PS I did not return the tube rings as i was instructed they are not needed in case of this tubes as they are not microphonic and the cooling is better without them...
Few pics will follow...
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I did this swap in all my products that use 6N30P tubes. The Ayon Crossfire III benefited as did the Ayon Skylla 2 DAC. What you can't do is replace a 6N6p based product with a 6N30P...it has to do with the current draw of the heater being higher for the 6N30P.