Since you mention that it is your first tube amp I want to mention that hopefully you are aware that you should not turn a tube amp on and off and back on quickly without giving the capacitors a couple minutes to discharge. That can lead to problems such as you describe.
Advice on Repairs for Audio Research VT100 Mk II
Hi everyone,
I purchased a second-hand Audio Research VT100 Mk II for about EUR 2,500. After about 1 month, the fan died, which turned out to be faulty resistors near the fan. After about 6 months, there were some loud pops, and two more resistors were blown near one of the power tubes.
I sent it to the authorised Audio Research repair shop here in Germany and they quoted me the following for the repair work:
- Replacing 10 Resistors 43100004 (at EUR 2.00 per resistor)
- Replacing 10 Resistors 43100208 (at EUR 7.50 per resistor)
- Replacing 8 6550 Tubes with J.J. Tubes (at EUR 20.50 per tube)
- Replacing 8 6922 Tubes with J.J. Tubes (at EUR 83.95 per tube)
- 13 hours of labour (at EUR 75 per hour).
For a total of EUR 1,905,60 plus 19% VAT, i.e. EUR 2,267. I pushed back and asked if really all of the tubes needed replacing and they said yes. I also pushed back on the price of EUR 83.95 per tube for the 6922 and they said that these tubes needed to be matched and therefore the costs include labour, shipping, and tuning/matching of the tubes.
Does that seem like a fair price for the work? I’m of course reluctant to spend on repairs what I’ve already spent for the amp itself. I’m fine with the price of the resistors, 6550 tubes, and labour but the price for the 6992 tubes seems too high. On the JJ Tubes website, these tubes sell for about EUR 20 a piece and they do not even offer matched sets of 6992. Do the 6992 input tubes really need to be matched?
Any advice or comments is much appreciated.
Thanks, Edward