Any ARC REF 5 owner has a noisy display

It sounds like your Ref 3 needs service.

hansk46

... the total labourprice by the distributor , the service department , and the price of the display + postage + customs + over this total the taxes ( 20 % ).I decided not to repair !

We’ve seen this before, where an owner of a high end component will suffer with problems rather than bear the cost of repair. It just confounds me. In particular, Audio Research will service to factory spec (or better) just about every product it ever built. Why a user wouldn’t want to avail himself of the best performance from a product he already owns just doesn’t make sense to me. The Ref 3 hasn’t been manufactured in a decade, so that it might need service now isn’t far-fetched.

And believe me, I’ve been stung by service costs, too. I’ve spent more to service my tape decks over the years than they cost me when I bought them new, for example. And freight costs are high even if the repair bill itself isn’t. But it’s all part of the hobby.

It’s like owning a car. There will always be periodic service expense.