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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

Showing 7 responses by bifwynne

bifwynne
2,206 posts
 
Anwar, what is the input impedance of your McIntosh MC452 amp? Is it over 20K ohms?
bifwynne
2,206 posts
 
Anwar, I checked the MAC web site. Input impedance is 22,000 ohms Balanced and unbalanced. That just 2K ohms over the minimum ARC recommends. If you load any other devices (e.g., subwoofer) to the Ref 5's output, you may overload the Ref 5.
bifwynne
2,206 posts
 
Djcxxx, your MC601's input impedance of 20K ohms is the maximum load recommended by ARC. If you are running anything else off the other Ref 5 outputs (e.g., a sub woofer), the combined impedance load that the Ref 5 sees will likely drop below 20K ohms. It might be worthwhile to have a call with Kal at ARC to learn if he thinks the 20K ohm load is ok.
bifwynne
2,206 posts
 
Anwar, check the input impedance of your sub. I suspect that the combined impedance load on your Ref 5 SE is less than 20K ohms. If so, you are overloading the Ref 5 and potentially degrading its already excelleant performance. Try Kal again. If you can't reach him, try Chris Ossanna.

Remember, the formula for combined impedance is:

CI= (Input device 1 - ohms x Input device 2 - ohms)/(Input device 1 - ohms + Input device 2 - ohms). So, if you do the math, if both devices have an input impedance of 20K ohms, combined impedance is 10K ohms . . . oopps.

Btw, are you symetrically loading the Ref 5's Main 1 and Main 2 outputs? That is are both Mains balanced or SE, or are you asymetrically mixing and matching the Mains: one balanced and the other SE. If the later, not a good thing to do.

That's why I worked with Tom Tutay in Florida. A great guy and very well respected in the audio hobby. If you do have an issue, check my threads for his number.

Good luck and let us know how you make out.

Bruce
bifwynne
2,206 posts
 
Vladimir, if you are referring to a self powered sub, and you are sure that it has a 1K ohm input impedance, which strikes me as low, you are overloading the Ref SE by a very wide margin. Confirm your stats and call Kal at ARC. If he confirms my suspicion, better call Tom Tutay.
bifwynne
2,206 posts
 
Anwar, seems like you just squeeked under the wire. You might still want to call Kal to get his view on whether you might gain any further sound improvement if the output impedancce could be tweaked up just a bit more.

Cheers

BIF
bifwynne
2,206 posts
 
Misternice ... No. All of my ARC gear, including my Ref 5 SE works A-OK.
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