Thoughts on Audio Research D70

Here's an FYI. I own a D115MkII and called ARC about putting KT120's in the amp. They said don't do it as the heater in the KT120 draws alot more current than does the 6550s. He said that this will kill the power transfer over time. I would think that the D70 would also be in this camp.

I was asking about the kt120 more from a increased tube life perspective as I knew that I wouldn't get a power increase without mod's to the amp. I don't have any issues with power with 115 - it seems to be able to drive about anything I hook up to it. ARC did recomend the Sovtek 6550WE's which seem fairly easy to find.

I have no issues with a non factory mod. I am considering recapping it but haven't made up my mind on which cap(s) to go with. Any suggetsions??

Johnsonwu,

Are you saying you'd replace the 1.0uF + 0.15uF caps with the 0.22 to 0.33 values? Seems like a big change.

Scott

Thanks for the tip the V-cap's website. Do you think that the mid high glare you refer to is from the Rel/Wondercaps??

Johnsonwu,

Thanks for your input. I think the current ARC cap is the TRT Stealth cap. No outside reviews that I've been able to find. I do know that Aesthetix also uses these in their Eclipse series. From what I've read, I'm not sure these are teflon - they sound simular to the Clarity MR's if you read the write up. If you look closely at ARCDB for the Ref 110, there's a side photo that shows the gold & red Stealth cap with a small silver cap which looks to bypass the Stealth. I would venture a guess that the small silver cap is teflon.

Another interesting cap is the duelund Alexander's. In the smaller size range, they are not nearly as expensive as the teflon caps.