Audio Research I/50 Integrated Amp

New I/70 just released or coming soon?

@docknow

+1

Hmmm, maybe I'll buy one. I love the I/50. Every time I have listened to one, I fall in love again. Then realize I don't need one. Perhaps I'll replace my Primaluna integrated.

It may seem like a lot but HiFi is a very small community.   A lot of these products are built in very small numbers. 

As an example I had an early  Zesto preamp.   It was SN 106.    From what I can see they started at 101 and built that model up to SN 159.  Less than 60 units.  Over two or three years of production. 

Another good example is my Quicksilver Headphone Amp.  Early pics show the press release unit is serial #6.  Mine is #18.    Its been in production 4 years and someone here or SHF posted their new QS amp a few weeks ago and it was SN 65 or something like that.  Super small runs.  

I was in this biz around 20 years ago.  When we launched a new product it would have a SN that would give the illusion that many more were built than the one you just received.     You didn't get SN 000023 ,  you got  SN 5101023 ....   it was number 23 off the line but you think there were hundreds or thousands built before it. 

My CD transport is SN x00001 , so maybe I did get the first one, but even that model is a super small run

DAC is SN 00141,  again tiny production numbers.  

Integrated amp. SN 00077

Some of these products we buy as audiophools get tons of press, thread discussions,  etc yet there are only a few hundred examples built.   

To anyone used to biasing their tube amps or auto bias (together encompassing virtually all semi modern tube amps), having to take it to someone else for biasing can almost be considered a design flaw.  What was ARC thinking back then?

I realize ARC uses carefully selected tubes designed to last, but just the same, stuff happens.

Bet you will never see this in an ARC product again.

On the other hand, if you have a good audio store or servicer nearby that you can count on it could be a great deal to pick one up.

I really enjoy my I/50, but I just replaced the left channel 6922EH driver tube. It was probably original, and I bought the amp used (it was used as a demo unit by a reviewer who must have played it). No biasing needed, only the power (6550) tubes need biasing. It is a shame the amp has to be sent somewhere and can’t be modded for user servicability or auto-biasing. I have also a Willsenton R8, KT-88 push-pull integrated, with similar specs, and that unit is set up for user biasing which is not difficult.  I have to wonder whether they will continue the I/50 with a similar integrated offering what are considered improvements to the I/50. 

What is a lot, and where are they all?

I found 1 on USAM.

Many have been sold if you look under that tab. I saw a few on the Music Room website as well. 

The new I-70 is auto biasing. It just took time to get there. I remember when all tube amps had to be manually biased. Not that long ago. 

There are demos on-line how to manually bias the I-50. It is not hard... I suspect since the amp must be on and there are high voltages they were concerned with the liability of having folks do it themselves. There are some really stupid people out there. 

I’d swear there was a similar thread about ARC for sale everywhere not all that long ago.

@oddiofyl -- No kidding about some pieces of gear being produced in small batch runs.  I am encountering this unusual practice with yet another Audio Research product.  I just inherited the Hi-Fi gear of an Great-Uncle.  I had never heard him talk about his gear over the years, and since he lived three States and almost 20 hours drive time away, I had never seen his collection.  Needless to say, my jaw still has not gotten up off the floor.

Part of his collection includes a matching mint condition Dyna ST70, Preamp, and Tuner; AR 2 and 3 speakers that look like they just came off the assembly floor; a 1987 Linn Sondek LP12 with a Koetsu Rosewood Cart; several Dual and Garrard turntables from the late 1960’s and early 1970’s; three Audio Research preamps; several NAD, Kenwood, Denon, and Yamaha amps; a box containing at least 100 new cartridges and replacement styli from the 1960’s through the 1980’s; and his main system that still has me stunned: Magnapan MG III-A including the crossover with two Adcom GFA-555’s running the lows and an Audio Research D-111 running the highs.

I think I had heard of a D-111 once, but never seen one in person.  After finding very little about them online other that they were absolute beasts made between 1981 and 1983 and had an MSRP of $4,000, I called Audio Research to verify that I had to be reading a typo -- "Only 20 units were produced between 1981 and 1983."  NOPE!  I was reading correctly.  In two years, Audio Research only made 20 of these amps.  Nobody can tell me why they only made 20.  Nobody at AR is still around the company that was there when the D-111’s were made.  I have asked questions about the amp on Audigon, but just run into a brick wall.  Nobody seems to know anything about them or where to turn.  I feel like the guy who spends his time chasing a tiger’s tail...but what do you do when you catch it???

I’m trying to find a shop that has experience working on these lines of gear to plan my next steps.  It should be an interesting journey.

A good barometer for sales is HiFi Shark.com.   If your search yields few results or no results it's scarce or so coveted it rarely changes hands.   On the other end of the spectrum is something like the RME DAC.  A great DAC but they built thousands of them.    When I sold mine there were dozens for sale but that's why.  They built a ton. 

If I saw a few i50 for sale at once I wouldn't be too concerned,  but if I saw a dozen or 20 I'd be wondering why.   Especially knowing they are built in small numbers.