Problem with Ref 5SE


I recently purchased a 5se and took delivery the other day. Did not get a chance to open it up until last night. Upon installing it into system I switched it on and after it warmed up, I was very much interested in hearing how it sounded against my current 27. After listening to several tracks with the 27 I switched pre's and after a couple of minutes playing a CD I got some noise, almost a loud static sound coming from the right channel. It was not effected by changing volume controls or input selector. It went away after 10-15 seconds and then returned. At that point, as it was late, I shut everything down and figured I would take another look in the morning.

This morning I removed the top cover and pulled and reset the output tubes and then the power tubes. I fired it back up and still had the 'static' sound but now it also had a humm, like an impedance type hum and constant. I do not believe that the humm was present last night as it is quite noticeable. 

The static type load noise seemed to have abated after the unit warmed up after maybe 15-30 minutes.

Can I assume that perhaps a tube was damaged during shipping? Do you ARC guys think a new set of tubes will fix this issue or am I looking at something more severe? Any additional suggestions to try and pin this down?

I rerouted the IC going to the amps to get them further away from source IC's and no help...

I am a little bummed, as my initial impression it that it is a leap from the LS27, my current...
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Showing 3 responses by chip_2950

I have a Ref 5se and had a Ref 5.  Both were dead silent into multiple amps.  Speakers:  Martin Logan Summit x and B&W Signature 30’s.  Both very revealing.

Stupid questions:  Are you using the CD input and balanced interconnects?  Have you tried switching to an AUX input or single-ended interconnects, or both?
You did try both outputs, right?

IMHO.  I would stay with the stock 20 amp power cable.


So...  For what it is worth...  I have had no heat problems with either my Ref 5 (metal top) or Ref 5se (plastic top).  Even had both in a media cabinet at one point, with only about 12” of head room.
Just sayin’.
So...  Just an observation.  
All of my ARC amplifiers over the years have had metal tops.  My VT200 had 8 matched-pairs of 6550’s.  And, a small pile of 6922’s, as well.  It made a great space heater in the winter.  ;-)