I have had no issues with ARC probably 20 years now except for the HD220 Hybrid amp which stopped working and it turned out to be a universal problem, ARC fixed it for free even though the warranty had just ran out but would not fix it again, got rid of it and got their DS450 mono amps and with some fuse upgrades and power cord upgrades sounds better then the HD and runs cool vs HD super hot temp. All and all very happy with ARC gear and I will be sticking with that brand.
6550 tube in an ARC Ref 5 SE
Hi folks, I’m trying to learn some about amplifier design and function here.
My story: I have an ARC Ref 5 SE. I stopped getting sound from it in August. Wasn’t sure what was wrong, so sent it to ARC for repair. Took a while, apparently due to their factory moving or something. Got it back last weekend, reported as “general repair” on the invoice; inside looked like they had cleaned it. Reinstalled the tubes and ... still no sound. Looking at the unit while on, I noticed no glow from the 6550 tube. It had about 1500 hours on it, so could have reasonably been at the end of its life. I therefore bought a Tung sol 6550 from the tube store and installed it. Now I see glow again, and the sound is back.
Ok, so I’m not gonna grouse about ARC not apparently testing the tube, rather, my interest is piqued, and I would like to learn here. The 6550 and its accompanying 6H30 are listed as part of the “voltage regulator” circuit as part of the power supply. My question is this: what exactly does this circuit do in a preamp, and why does the sound stop when the 6550 fails? Please explain in English, as I have no background in electronics. Just trying to learn here, and thanks in advance for teaching the newbie... the internet was pretty unhelpful on this question
My story: I have an ARC Ref 5 SE. I stopped getting sound from it in August. Wasn’t sure what was wrong, so sent it to ARC for repair. Took a while, apparently due to their factory moving or something. Got it back last weekend, reported as “general repair” on the invoice; inside looked like they had cleaned it. Reinstalled the tubes and ... still no sound. Looking at the unit while on, I noticed no glow from the 6550 tube. It had about 1500 hours on it, so could have reasonably been at the end of its life. I therefore bought a Tung sol 6550 from the tube store and installed it. Now I see glow again, and the sound is back.
Ok, so I’m not gonna grouse about ARC not apparently testing the tube, rather, my interest is piqued, and I would like to learn here. The 6550 and its accompanying 6H30 are listed as part of the “voltage regulator” circuit as part of the power supply. My question is this: what exactly does this circuit do in a preamp, and why does the sound stop when the 6550 fails? Please explain in English, as I have no background in electronics. Just trying to learn here, and thanks in advance for teaching the newbie... the internet was pretty unhelpful on this question