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.
Why would anyone waste tube life by leaving units on when not needed?
I run tube amplification in my primary system, which is a combined AV system. It is used only for listening as when I am doing video I just move the speaker leads over to a solid state pre and power set up.
So if I'm reading this correctly the OP who doesnt listen to music purchased an ARC Ref6-SE to watch tv with or at least leave on all day long so his family can use it while watching tv?
The OP clearly has more money than brains... What a waste of of high end component...
Well then a lesser model like the LS26, or 27 which only uses 2 tubes instead of 6 could be an option. I know what your doing I've done it before with my LS26 for movie nights but I would never run the thing all day long for the wife and kids to watch TV with.. However if it is a must then YOU must change preamps plain and simple. There are some out that don't even need to be turned on which will just pass through a signal.. Do some research :)
Problem here is that tube preamps which keep the tubes off while watching tv are not very good. Bartlett looked promising, about $9k, but it didn’t seem to be of same level as the arc 6se preamp.
I have since found that replacing tubes of 6se are about $300 (1 to 2 yrs) and exp for electricity is about $60-80 annually assuming a watt level of 130 while on. It is truly a pain that a very sophisticated industry has not done a very good job integrating ht with stereo preamps. McIntosh efforts are very troubling, their system when wired as they want it will cause your avr to turn off so you can’t watch a muted active tv screen like a sporting event or have it displaying stuff during social events.
I want exceptional sound when I listen to stereo, and the hifi industry does not make it easy to get there!! Just horrifying.
ARC has done their job and produced an extremely high quality stereo component for "stereo use". Being as nice as they are they also gave you an option for the home theatre bypass option to use I would guess once in while for the odd movie or sporting event. The problem here is that you want to use it all the time like a receiver.. It wasn't built for that.. You gotta make a choice here -- suk it up and keep buying tubes or get another room for the system or like another poster here mentioned get a nice sound bar...
You can use tubes you buy elsewhere. But, be aware, that will void the warranty. If a tube burns down, ARC will often have other problems, like resistors that burn too. You have to send it back for service, and you will pay unless you got the tubes from them. In some cases even if you did buy tubes from them.
By the way, look at Primaluna instead. None of the problems you bring up, sound quality is very nearly as good, and the cost is less than half. And, with their auto-bias functionality, you can buy tubes anywhere, they don't have to be matched, and all will work perfectly!
I'm not affiliated with either company or the audio industry. But, I read a lot, and I'm very happy with my Primaluna HP Integrated... for which I've never had a tube failure. Owned 8 years.
I much prefer the sound of PrimaLuna compared to ARC, but that is just me. I heard the Prima Luna HP mono blocks and they were quite special. I find ARC sound to be a little threadbare.
The first service on a Mclaren is $30,000. So is the second, etc. As a service advisor told a woman in front of me, who was complaining about her bill when I was paying my bill, "Maybe you are not the type of person who should own a BMW." I concur, and I sold my POS BMW. Audio Research has been one of my favorite audio companies since their beginning; however, I am not the type of person who should own it, because I demand low maintanence costs. I used to drive Alfa Romeos, but cannot justify their costs. That is why transistors were invented, for people like us.
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.
If you are concerned about the price of tubes and even the small amount of electricity to power them, you are in the wrong hobby. Get yourself a boom box and then you can complain about the cost of the battery’s. I would never want my family to just sit around all day and watch TV and movies. Makes for very lazy people.
I believe that you have to assess, what is most important to you. Watching TV/ movies HT experience or listening to music.
1.If you find that watching TV / movies takes priority then you should invest in a mid - fi Solid State HT System, with Subs etc, as others have suggested.
2.If you find that listening to music takes priority, then isolate it out of the HT
system
completely. Get a sound bar for the TV and Invest in fantastic tube equipment, speakers, power delivery, and cables....
3.If you need to have both, then treat them as two separate systems. Work within a budget acceptable for you, and put the majority of your investment towards your tube based equipment for
exceptional music listening. The rest put towards Mid - Fi solid state receiver and speakers/subs for TV and HT. Can get best bang for buck on used market.
You also need to accept the fact that there is no all in one solution. Yeah they market it but... Look at it like this
You want a Porsche 911 Turbo S because you want to go 0-60 in 2.2 seconds, with 640hsp. However because you have your family to consider you are looking at a Porsche Cayenne - 350hsp 0-60 in 6 seconds - And it has a turbo boost sport package button that gives you more power when you need it. But most importantly is still a Porsche. But you find the cost to maintain the Cayenne does not justify the sacrifice in performance
you have to make or live with. So get the the family a used Chevy Trailblazer - (HT Solid State) Solid- reliable and does the job. Then Invest in a Porsche Carrera 4S - (High - Fi Tube Equipment) and meet your expectations.
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.
10 + hours of TV a day ?? WOW !!! I can't even imagine that. I don't even own one. I have an ARC LS 27, and I get great tube life, and replacement costs are quite modest.
I keep 2 channel as 2 channel, meaning completely seperate from the surround sound home theater stuff. I use a sony str dn1080 for home theater duties. It, in my opinion, is the best out there for years running for the price. No idea why anyone would use their hifi in conjunction with home theater, especially if the kiddies are sometimes operating it to watch their movies etc. You can grab the aforementioned sony pretty cheap when on sale. I've seen it as low as $399 from time to time, regularly $598.
You must have a verified phone number and physical address in order to post in the Audiogon Forums. Please return to Audiogon.com and complete this step. If you have any questions please contact Support.
