Tubes & Audio Research Corp.

Highend, I've had troubles with "the California guy" also. I'm not sure why so many people mention him. He's a flake and will outright lie to protect his ass. I lost over $500 in repair and shipping charges due to a VERY bad tube failure the first time I installed it. It was supposed to be a "premium" tube (tighter measured tolerances...). He denied that the tube could have caused the problems and then quickly sent a new tube to the mfg "free of charge". Also, my friend bought some NOS Tungsram E88CC's and they were not NOS tubes (nor Tungsrams for that matter). Now that is gall!!! I hope others figure this out.

Upscale, I didn't come to the conclusion that those E88CC were not NOS Tungsrams (I haven't a clue how to tell the difference). ARC told my friend this after his LS25 began to have troubles. He sent the unit in and was told those tubes were NOT NOS Tungsrams and that they were an imitation made in Eastern Europe, a tube they said was "hot" on the market. ARC admitted that the problem he was having with the LS25 was NOT caused by the tubes. If you say they are and ARC says they aren't, who are we to believe? What does ARC have to gain by telling my friend this?