Audio Research Reference 150 severe distortion

Your personal ownership is probably from at least 7...8 years ago. Now I feel that it's different. I haven't seen word dropped about Ref series reliability till recent and mostly on current models not ones built back than.
Tube amp designs have lots in common between each other and frequent blowing tube is functional or design problem. 

I have a Vt-100 Mklll since 2001 and the only thing I have ever done is change tubes. I currently need my tubes changed so I asked my technician is there any thing else I should do because my unit is 14 years old. He said if it still works fine there is nothing I need to do but change tubes and have them biased.

i had a brother in law that had several Ferrari's that I used to have serviced for him. The amount of money he spent servicing those cars you could own any new ARC amp you wanted plus a pair of high line speakers and still have money left over. Trying to compare the maintenance of a ARC amp to a Ferrari is ridiculous.

shaq,

The fact that both channels exhibit the same symptom, at least that is what I understand from your message, points to a power supply issue.  It may not be so serious as it seems.  I would suggest looking for an experienced servicer in driving distance if at all possible.  

And no question, Audio Research has produced some of the most significant benchmarks in tube amplifiers for more than 40 years.  I have owned and worked on more than a few, and they definitely among my favorites.  

is VT100 recent ref series?
My imagination about Ferrari service compares to shipping 100lb or heavier unit back-fourth. Recent posts about problems shouldn't even be on the first place on $10k+ equipment makes me believe so. I believe that for the money spent on Ferrari all future services and repairs should be FREE for lifetime. Same with AudioResearch ref series.