ARC D400 vs D400 MkII


Ok, so last year I was on the hunt for a solid state ARC amp to pair with my LS25 MkII linestage. Solid state designs from ARC seem to have been sparse over the last couple decades, to say the least; I’d read online that the D400 MkII is “the one to have”. 
 

Well, I ended up with a one-owner original D400, thinking that I’d use it until I could unearth a MkII at a later date; the price was very reasonable , and I figured I could resell it at no financial loss at such time as I found a suitable replacement.

Now I’m wondering if proceeding with my original plan is worth the hassle and uncertainty of exchanging a (in terms of operating condition/reliability) known quantity for an unknown quantity.

I know this is a shot in the dark, but I was hoping someone Agon might have had a chance to listen to both versions of this amp and elucidate how much of an improvement the MkII version is, and in what capacity.
 

thx 

 

rfnoise

@hiendmmoe

Yes thanks, I am aware of this. The oem 67000uF main filter caps are no longer available. Same story with the D240 MkII. The D200 & D300 are still serviceable, i believe, but I’ve read that they use a different (sonically inferior) circuit design.

 

I’d considered looking at an SD135 or HD220, but apparently their Thermaltrak trannies had a defect that can sent the unit into thermal shutdown.

 

And even if I was inclined toward an older class D amp (I’m not), the DS series amps can’t be serviced due to the unavailability of their Tripath class D modules.

 

ARC solid state looks like a bloody orphanage lol.

Fortunately the caps in my amp tested at spec when I bought it, and I read in another thread that a guy had had good luck with aftermarket caps installed by an independent tech. So there’s that.

Audio Research has discontinued support and repair for all D series solid state amplifiers. Can’t get parts to fix them.

That is not true. There are some D series amplifiers it can't repair, along with a few other models it's made over the years, but it's not the entire series. The list of products is on its website.

Just a heads up. Audio Research has discontinued support and repair for all D series solid state amplifiers. Can’t get parts to fix them.