Tube advice


I have several decent, newer ARC tube amps and will soon be approaching tube replacement time. ARC apparently has a very thorough vetting process for the tubes they install and sell. That of course runs a hefty premium, more than double what the same tubes would cost from Tube Depot etc. The money's not a total deal breaker but still, for all three amps re-tubing from ARC is going to run close to 3k and if it's all the same would definitely rather not have to spend the extra $1500. Any insights would be appreciated. Thanks
128x128moryoga

Showing 1 response by rcprince

Not sure about the newer ones, but I would stick with ARC's tubes if the newer amps are anything like the older ones.  They were very hard to bias correctly and tubes often would fail on first use because of that.  Andy Bouwman told me years ago that he couldn't guarantee any tubes he sold if they were being used in ARC amps, for that reason.  Personally, I'd stick with ARC's tubes, unless the biasing is easier nowadays.