2. amps-preamps
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Audio Research Reference 5SE reliability

After reading the glowing revieuw on the Stereophile-website by Brian Damkroger on the ARC REF5SE there was a comment that: quote: by Audioware on nov 15, 2012,

"These pres are outstanding. However the problem is their poor reliability. 06 (six) of them were already on my services bench this year to fix problems with the transformer that feeds the dgital, the remote control and the on-off switch, circuits. It is a small xformer below the circuit board that burns out frequently. Another very serious problem is with the 6H30s filament regulators that do not stand for the increased current demanded by the new 6H30s intead of the old 6922s. ARC has to pay more attention to these problems!"

I already checked my dealer, who was really surprised and did not recognise these problems.

Comments will be greatly appreciated! Thanks.
sequence56
sequence56 OP
73 posts
 
As I was instantly floored with the sq of the ARC Ref5SE overall, I bought one. Having now some 35 hours on it and it is already better than just new out of the box.
anwar
119 posts
 
Hi all, I am a new ARC Ref 5SE user. It has about 73 hours now, connected to McIntosh MC452 amp. While I am happy with its sound quality and how Ref 5SE integrates with the rest of my system, I am wondering if other users experience any over heating problem. My Ref 5SE runs really hot until it damaged the wood shelf above it. I was told the clearance was not enough, so I changed to longer legs, now having 3" clearance between the top of Ref 5SE and the wood shelf above, but still it runs very hot. If used longer than 3 hours, even the volume control knob becomes hot. Is this normal? Thank you.
hifigeek1
770 posts
 
Three inches is not an acceptable clearance above the preamp. Your dealer should have told you this. Heat rises and needs to go somewhere and not get reflected back into the preamp. This can cause premature aging of the parts inside the preamp. You will need to place the preamp in an area where there is no shelf above it. Doing that will allow your preamp to vent heat properly and keep it running cool.
anwar
119 posts
 
The ARC importer in my country told me 3-4" clearance is fine but they recommended ventilation fan. I added PC chassis 12VDC cooling fan (quiet type) at the side of the Ref 5SE (open shelves, not closed) and it helps cool down the preamp.
sequence56 OP
73 posts
 
I have over 10" above the preamp to the woodshelf above. It is a very open construction, so ventilation of heat is no problem, no knobs are getting hot, only the top of the preamp itself just above the biggest tube warms up considerably.
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