For ARC lovers, Problems?


I had a ref 6 which I liked a lot and had no problems with. I upgraded to the ref 10 which sounded appreciably better but I ended up with a number of problems that I could no longer tolerate. I have a new pre which is very good but is not nearly as exciting as the audio research sound.
From your experience with Audio Research is this a good idea going back to the ref 6 with the hope of upgrading it to the SE? Or will I regret it due to reliability issues? There are pages on Audiogon concerning ARC reliability issues and I don't want to jump feet first into another expensive audio quicksand.
Any opinions or advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you.

roxy1927
(I meant mixed bag, not bad above)

Only thing I've heard that's close to your issue is that they've made the decision to stop offering upgrades to their Ref Phono 2 to SE now that the Ref Phono3 SE is out. 
I'm mostly a CJ guy and never have this kind of problem with them. For instance you can upgrade to Teflon caps forever on older units from what I've seen. 

I'm very glad that a lot of people on this thread have had no reliability problems, but if you do I you'll see what the others are talking about. 
OP, it would still be helpful to know what you replaced your ARC with to understand why your unhappy at this point. 
JRW 1971
You mentioned your fuses blew twice on the 160S and the 160 was sent in for service and all was taken care of. I thought the new fuse arrangement on the latest series of ARC amps, like you have, wouldn’t require service if one of the fuses used to protect the amp blew , (when there is a tube failure.) Just replace the open fuse, and your good to go.......apparently not, unless I misunderstood your comments above....
ALL manufacturers have issues occasionally, just like all auto manufacturers or anyone who makes complicated products.

For example, EVERY Phase Linear amp I ever sold failed soon after purchase.  Same with almost all Nakamichi products, which tended to fail after about a week or two, and Crown was not much better.

It happens.  The very first ARC D-150 shipped to my shop arrived DOA.  I had to pay shipping back, by the way...Bill ran a tight ship when it came to money!

My suggestion is to ask ARC WHY, after their factory service, the product keeps failing.  If they have a reasonable answer, fix that issue.  If not, they are a pretty good company, and you may have purchased a lemon.  See your dealer and they will work something out with ARC if they are any kind of dealer at all.

Good luck!


I sold Audio Research stuff for 30 yrs. Never had an underlying problem as you are describing.
One thing that comes to mind is to measure the voltage coming out of your socket receptacle the unit is plugged into.
See if it is truly 120 or something different.