Buy tubes from Audio Research or not

I need to retube my ARC amp and I'm wondering if there is an advantage buying tubes from ARC vs and Independant tube dealer.

taters03-04-2009 8:52am

9rw Details Discussions Posts This discussion Message User 318 posts 03-04-2009 at 10:08pm Copy Comment URL Report Comment Edit Delete Audio Research certainly isn't making a killing selling tubes. It's simply a service the company provides because it sells tube products. If you've invested in ARC equipment, I would think you would want it to perform at its best, and you can be assured of that if you buy tubes that ARC has tested. I found Upscale Audio to be rude, too, and this was after I had bought a set of power tubes for my ARC VT100MKIII a few years ago. Maybe Kevin or whoever I spoke to was just having a bad day, but there are several better options if you don't want to buy from ARC. Or go ahead and roll the dice.
9rw Details Discussions Posts This discussion Message User 318 posts 03-05-2009 at 09:46pm Copy Comment URL Report Comment Edit Delete Just to straighten out some misconceptions, retubing the VT100MKIII is a straightforward process that requires no special skills. Retubing the first two models merely requires that you follow some instructions -- or have someone with a little skill do the task for you. It's not a big deal, and it's certainly not a reason to avoid these fine amplifiers. Plus it's not as if you need to retube them all that often.