Audio Research preamps EXCESSIVE OPERATING COSTS


Soooo disappointing.
So you want to use in home theatre mode.  Get ready to pay up to operate.   The tubes stay on and when family uses system 10 plus hrs a day for tv and videos, the tubes burn away.  Most of the 8 tubes have life of 4000 hrs and cost $150 per tube to replace.  Over 5 years operating costs could approach $5000 or more.  And this excludes wasteful elec costs of $100 to $200 per year for bulbs running without being used.   Sooooo disappointing.


I called audio research and they confirmed all this.  Further, they lacked any sensitivity to theses issues.  Seemed kinda arrogant.  

Sooooo disappointing.
emergingsoul

Showing 2 responses by invalid

I don't understand why you can't leave a tube preamp on all the time, I leave mine on all the time, it doesn't seem to need tube replacement very often. 
Invalid
What is the watt level for operating your preamp?
The manual for the arc Ref 6se says it draws. 130 watts. Not sure how accurate this is and whether a lot lower when in bypass mode.

a mc mc255 amp draws about 65 watts at moderate levels.


I'm not sure, I'm running a separate power supply, the 2 866a tubes in the power supply draw 5 amps at 2.5 volts for the heaters. The preamp only has 2 6sl7 tubes in it. I'm sure the arc reference 6se has more tubes in it, and they probably run them hot. I know some tube preamps can go through tubes faster than others.