I have owned ARC amps for fifteen years, first a NOS VS110 that some wealthy guy just kept in his closet for about ten years as a spare before selling it to me and then three years ago moving up to a Ref 150SE paired with a Ref 6.
My VS110 killed tubes semi-regularly. I bet I went through an octet of various KT88’s or 6550’s annually. I also blew the protective resistors two or three times-just one on whichever tube failed. At some point on the advice of a regular on this Board, I upgraded the coupling caps, and the difference was subtle.
I bought my Ref 150SE as a dealer demo with only 30 hours on it and yet ironically enough, it shipped with one bad KT150. I replaced it with a single KT150 from Upscale Audio after providing then with the readings I was getting on my Fluke from the other tubes so that they could provide me with a matching tube. This is not optimum, but I have had no problems since with almost 1000 hours of use.
Keep in mind that the VS110 provided for biasing each output tube. ARC went to slave biasing with the Ref 150SE-you can only adjust bias on four of the eight KT150’s and then just hope that the tube coupled to the one you are biasing falls into acceptable range.
I immediately searched out a new octet of KT150’s to have as a back-up when I bought the single tube from Upscale.
Over the years I have purchased tubes from many suppliers, all of them "established" in terms of reputation. Though I have never met him, I consider Jim McShane to be the elite among the elite of tube authorities. Jim has little to say that is positive about New Sensor’s QC with the Tung Sol KT150. He flat out refused to source me an octet saying that it was not worth the trouble to buy a huge batch and sort out the duds from the winners. I eventually sourced a back-up octet from Tyler of TCTubes who was willing to buy the huge batch and sort out the better tubes and then return the bad ones.
I believe that this, in part, explains ARC’s very high prices on the KT150’s that it sells.
Btw, when I needed a back up set of KT150’s I sent three emails to ARC and they never responded to a one of them. From my fifteen years of owning ARC I can tell you that they go in spurts of being responsive and non-responsive. Their new business model is to try to insist that you engage a dealer rather than bother them.
All of this drivel, and I have not discussed the sound of the Ref 150SE with Ref 6. I believe the choice of XLR cables is critical (and you do not want to compromise with a single ended-only preamp and the true balanced Ref 150SE). I am using Cardas Clear Beyond. ARC warns the user in their manual that running balanced and using the best XLR’s one can afford is critical. The sound is definitely not of the "melting midrange with one note bass and recessed highs" that is common with classic tubed gear. It is very close to sounding like the best solid state. My Ref 6 and Ref 150SE have been perfectly reliable-after the one dead tube described above. They are a joy to use. I do hate removing 16 or so tiny set screws to remove the amp cover to check and adjust bias. The contact points for the bias adjustment are awkward to reach-so that aspect of "joy to use" is not so joyful.
But that aside, they together seem to push the aspects of a somewhat artificially widened (but not deepened) soundstage, pin point imaging, great dynamics (but not micro-dynamics) and bass slam at the expense of liquidity, tone, and timbre. I am quite content with the gear all the while not being in love with ARC now that they have been acquired under the McIntosh Group umbrella. For example, the dealer I purchased my amp and preamp from are both no longer ARC dealers. So when ARC tries to hand me off to "my retailer", I find that problematic. Also, ARC bet the ranch so to speak on the KT150 and as I said above, for the last three years New Sensor has not been able to get it’s act together to insure quality control.
My VS110 killed tubes semi-regularly. I bet I went through an octet of various KT88’s or 6550’s annually. I also blew the protective resistors two or three times-just one on whichever tube failed. At some point on the advice of a regular on this Board, I upgraded the coupling caps, and the difference was subtle.
I bought my Ref 150SE as a dealer demo with only 30 hours on it and yet ironically enough, it shipped with one bad KT150. I replaced it with a single KT150 from Upscale Audio after providing then with the readings I was getting on my Fluke from the other tubes so that they could provide me with a matching tube. This is not optimum, but I have had no problems since with almost 1000 hours of use.
Keep in mind that the VS110 provided for biasing each output tube. ARC went to slave biasing with the Ref 150SE-you can only adjust bias on four of the eight KT150’s and then just hope that the tube coupled to the one you are biasing falls into acceptable range.
I immediately searched out a new octet of KT150’s to have as a back-up when I bought the single tube from Upscale.
Over the years I have purchased tubes from many suppliers, all of them "established" in terms of reputation. Though I have never met him, I consider Jim McShane to be the elite among the elite of tube authorities. Jim has little to say that is positive about New Sensor’s QC with the Tung Sol KT150. He flat out refused to source me an octet saying that it was not worth the trouble to buy a huge batch and sort out the duds from the winners. I eventually sourced a back-up octet from Tyler of TCTubes who was willing to buy the huge batch and sort out the better tubes and then return the bad ones.
I believe that this, in part, explains ARC’s very high prices on the KT150’s that it sells.
Btw, when I needed a back up set of KT150’s I sent three emails to ARC and they never responded to a one of them. From my fifteen years of owning ARC I can tell you that they go in spurts of being responsive and non-responsive. Their new business model is to try to insist that you engage a dealer rather than bother them.
All of this drivel, and I have not discussed the sound of the Ref 150SE with Ref 6. I believe the choice of XLR cables is critical (and you do not want to compromise with a single ended-only preamp and the true balanced Ref 150SE). I am using Cardas Clear Beyond. ARC warns the user in their manual that running balanced and using the best XLR’s one can afford is critical. The sound is definitely not of the "melting midrange with one note bass and recessed highs" that is common with classic tubed gear. It is very close to sounding like the best solid state. My Ref 6 and Ref 150SE have been perfectly reliable-after the one dead tube described above. They are a joy to use. I do hate removing 16 or so tiny set screws to remove the amp cover to check and adjust bias. The contact points for the bias adjustment are awkward to reach-so that aspect of "joy to use" is not so joyful.
But that aside, they together seem to push the aspects of a somewhat artificially widened (but not deepened) soundstage, pin point imaging, great dynamics (but not micro-dynamics) and bass slam at the expense of liquidity, tone, and timbre. I am quite content with the gear all the while not being in love with ARC now that they have been acquired under the McIntosh Group umbrella. For example, the dealer I purchased my amp and preamp from are both no longer ARC dealers. So when ARC tries to hand me off to "my retailer", I find that problematic. Also, ARC bet the ranch so to speak on the KT150 and as I said above, for the last three years New Sensor has not been able to get it’s act together to insure quality control.