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Audio Research Reference 150 severe distortion

My Reference 150 is emitting severe distortion in both channels. I checked the bias of the K120 tubes and one tube in both channels is reading as low as 20, rather the the standard 65 range.

Does anyone know of a possible fix that will not involve me shipping the amp back to Audio Research?

Both bad tubes are less than 3 months old.

I gotta play my Liberace Christmas music!
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Showing 4 responses by cleeds

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cleeds
5,645 posts
 
czarivey1"It looks like AudioReseach Ref series are similar to Ferrari that have great performance but for the price of poor reliability."

I don't know much about Ferraris, although I think many of them look sharp. But I can  tell you that ARC products are very, very reliable. Yes, they require periodic tube replacement. But the gear is very reliable and very serviceable.
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cleeds
5,645 posts
 
"Your personal ownership is probably from at least 7...8 years ago. Now I feel that it's different. I haven't seen word dropped about Ref series reliability till recent and mostly on current models not ones built back than."

No, my experience is both long-term and recent with current ARC Reference components. ARC has an enviable reputation for reliability.
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cleeds
5,645 posts
 
czarivey"... I just follow frequent facts about Ref series.
It doesn't look like tube(s) problem. It looks like functionality problem ...
Just count facts and science becomes simple math.
Go with more facts throughout Audiogon posts about Ref series reliability: frequent premature tube blowing, bias resistor, bias DC cap etc... All these combined dictate sending unit to repair facility and back to get ripped off just like Ferrari owners do."

ARC has a tremendous reputation for long-term reliability, so I'm not sure why you feel that you have access to special "facts" just because you read A-gon. I base my opinion about ARC reliability on years of personal ownership and ownership by personal friends, rather than on hearsay posted to an online forum.

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cleeds
5,645 posts
 
czarivey"Wow I wish I can build some stuff that will require constant and future service for life! Nice business strategy indeed ..."

If you like what you mistakenly imagine ARC's strategy to be, what's stopping you from pursuing it?
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