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Audio Research Tube AMP Reliability

I was out shopping for amps this weekend, and I ran across a guy getting his ARC tube amp repaired.

He said he really like it, but he has gone through tube replacements, and he had the thing burn up on him, the power lines on the board had smoked and burned. I saw the splices on the board, the damage was pretty big, and about $500 in repairs.

The owner of the shop said he got in ARC amps often due to poor design and reliability.

I am interested in ARC because the reviews are great, but I was wondering if other folks are having trouble with their ARC Amps?

How about the Pre-Amps?

Thanks,
Scott
128x128scottlanterman

Showing 2 responses by scottlanterman

scottlanterman's avatar
scottlanterman OP
24 posts
 
I noticed that the ARC amps have high idle current, it looks to be about 4 times the amp rated power output.

I think that this indicates that the amp runs in single ended class A. Is that why people tend to like the sound? A Pass Labs XA amp also runs in single ended class A.

Has anyone ever compared a Pass XA 30.5 against something like a VT 50 from ARC to see if they have a similar sound?
scottlanterman's avatar
scottlanterman OP
24 posts
 
I wonder if the root cause is not buying the ARC tubes, and not having a certified tech install them. ARC has been around a long time, and there are a ton of used AMPS still running, and many of them have non ARC tubes and were installed by the owners. I wonder if this is adding to this issue of reliability because of the volume of these amps still in use.

Do folks have any issues when they always buy direct from ARC so that the current balance is within their factory spec?
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