2. amps-preamps
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For ARC lovers, Problems?

I had a ref 6 which I liked a lot and had no problems with. I upgraded to the ref 10 which sounded appreciably better but I ended up with a number of problems that I could no longer tolerate. I have a new pre which is very good but is not nearly as exciting as the audio research sound.
From your experience with Audio Research is this a good idea going back to the ref 6 with the hope of upgrading it to the SE? Or will I regret it due to reliability issues? There are pages on Audiogon concerning ARC reliability issues and I don't want to jump feet first into another expensive audio quicksand.
Any opinions or advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you.

roxy1927

Showing 3 responses by ddrave44

ddrave44
123 posts
 
OP, it would still be helpful to know what you replaced your ARC with to understand why your unhappy at this point. 
ddrave44
123 posts
 
Mixed bad on AR stuff. Told a buddy to brick his ~12 yr old CD player that needed repair.
What is the new pre you're using as a replacement for the ARC?
(Sorry if i missed that in the chain)
ddrave44
123 posts
 
(I meant mixed bag, not bad above)

Only thing I've heard that's close to your issue is that they've made the decision to stop offering upgrades to their Ref Phono 2 to SE now that the Ref Phono3 SE is out. 
I'm mostly a CJ guy and never have this kind of problem with them. For instance you can upgrade to Teflon caps forever on older units from what I've seen. 

I'm very glad that a lot of people on this thread have had no reliability problems, but if you do I you'll see what the others are talking about. 
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