Buy tubes from Audio Research or not

I still have not learned why this amp is so difficult to retube!
03-04-09: Thsalmon

Did you read my earlier post? It takes a certain amount of skill to re-tube the ARC VT 100. If you do not know what you are doing you can damage the new tubes or the Amp.
This guy was successful

I own the LS26 and the VS115. Would I be ok purchasing a matched pair of 6H30-DR's from a tube supplier for the LS26 and the VS115 (Vs115 takes 2 matched pairs). The VS115 also takes 4 matched pairs of 6550C's and are very $$ from ARC. Thanks.

Not to pile on, but when I tried to retube a VT100 mk2 through Upscale they were rude to me also, but more importantly they were rude to my amp! LOL. Anyway, when I retubed a VT200 a couple of years later I remembered Kevin's, um, "direct"ness and ordered tubes from a Canadian seller. The tubes were supposedly Svetlana SED 6550C's like ARC uses, but the pins were slightly thinner... Anyway, one of the tubes flared, damaging the amp. So while the tube seller was happy to replace the tube, I had to send the amp to ARC for repairs which cost me about $700, mostly for shipping. So, I now have a Ref 3 and Ref 110, and I will absolutely buy my tubes from ARC.

It's funny, I just talked to another tube supplier and I mentioned the experience I had with Kevin Deal. He says he here's that story all the time. He said he wonders how the guy stays in business.

Just to straighten out some misconceptions, retubing the VT100MKIII is a straightforward process that requires no special skills. Retubing the first two models merely requires that you follow some instructions -- or have someone with a little skill do the task for you. It's not a big deal, and it's certainly not a reason to avoid these fine amplifiers. Plus it's not as if you need to retube them all that often.