I own an ARC VS115 amp. The original yellow Rel-cap coupling caps ( two for each channel) were replaced with Stealth gold 2.0 uf 450 V caps. These 2.0 uf Stealth caps are drop in replacements on the circuit board replacing the stock 2.0 uf 450V Rel-caps. These Stealth caps are the identical caps which ARC uses in all their current reference products. Bypasses ( used with the stock Rel-cap coupling caps) are no longer needed with these 2.0 uf Stealths. The stock ARC Ref 75SE also has identical Stealth gold caps without bypasses utilized. The stock 6550 tubes were replaced with Tung-Sol KT120's. My VS 115 amp sounded excellent stock but with these upgrades it sounds significantly better! Night and day really. Very musical amp with outstanding dynamics and tonal balance. An even better three dimensional sound stage with the Stealth upgrade. Will be upgrading the four (4) diodes in the rectifier stage soon with
C6D10065A Silicon Carbide Diodes. I am considering upgrading the VS- 115 to KT150 tubes. The output transformers will probably be capable of handling the increased plate current of the KT150's but need to do more research on this first.
Audio Research VT100 Mk1, Mk3; VS115
I have a VT100 Mk1 and seek to upgrade mainly due fo age. (Speakers are Watt Puppy 7's.) I'm not seeking a big improvement but I certainly don't want to go backwards. In another thread people stated that the VS100 was a step down from the VT100 Mk3. One person stated the VS115 was better but was essentially the VT100 Mk3 on an open chassis. What I didn't hear was what the difference is between the VT100Mk1 and Mk3. The VT115 was said to be solid state sounding which is not what I'm looking for. Perhaps I should just stay with the Mk1 and be prepared to fix it when it breaks down.
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- 15 posts total
- 15 posts total