East Coast Service center referral needed for an ARC D-300.2 amp

You might want to try John Rutan at the Audio Connection in Verona, NJ. I know his technician recently serviced my friends D300. 

oh wow, thats great.  very helpful!  thanks!

i am surprised arc told you they would not service that amp...  hmmm

anyways, i hope you get the tech service you need

Hopefully that pans out for you.... good luck.  They are good guys over there in Jersey....    I really replied to this thread because I hear this too many times about Audio Research.    Not to mention all of the collateral damage when  tubes fail.   

They abandoned support on all of those xxx.2 amps , thats horrible and the main reason when I bought a pre and an amp recently they weren't Audio Research.

They are good sounding amps , no doubt and I hope Johnny and team have you enjoying it soon

@oddiofyl

fwiw, my 100.2 amp just went back to arc, and they serviced it, did a bench test, warren gehl even listened to it for a couple hours, called me for a nice chat... i have had it back for 3 weeks, all is great

perhaps it has to do with the obsolete and unobtainable early class d modules in the 300.2... dunno...

i love the amp, its been working great.  i purchased it maybe 2 months ago from a gentleman on this site.  Im not sure that it even needs anything, but ive decided when buying used gear that i am going to preemptively address future issues if i can help it by getting a pro to go over it as a preventative measure.  This was my first ARC product, my first used gear purchase, and my first time really using the Audiogon site and community.  I always loved music for many reasons, including its ability to help me focus and relax, etc., but now with my ARC  based setup, im fucking blown away.  its like a different song is playing sometimes than how it sounded on my basic stereo.  this will be a hobby or obsession until i can no longer hear.  I ran out and got a used ARC Ref 2mkii preamp like 3 weeks later, picked up used cables, and now im in the hunt for a really nice pair of floor speakers.  Thank you everyone for commenting and adding bits of knowledge and suggestions that people gain over the years.  Im starting out so everything helps.  Thanks again..

here is a portion of the email I received from Evan:

The nearest repair facilities that we have worked with before can be found below.  If you know of a service tech that is closer to you, we would still provide parts (if available).  The D series amplifiers are at the age where many of them need the electrolytic capacitors in the power supply replaced.  We do not have the parts for this procedure any longer, but a good technician can often retrofit modern parts to keep it running.

HEAR (High End Audio Repair) in Brooklyn

https://goo.gl/maps/NZTQiFbmMo7GF1f56

Technetron in Manhattan

https://goo.gl/maps/SyJpDNMfEJuZ7TCs8

If you would like to ask for local advice on an audio forum, I recommend www.audiogon.com.  It’s free to register and it’s the largest online audio community I am aware of.  There is a lot of good information to be found there.

Audio Research has produced some of the most amazing audiophile pieces of equipment over the last fifty years. As I have earned the funds to add pieces of ARC gear, my system has gotten better and better. I have never had a piece of Audio Research gear need servicing. If you are able to afford better and more contemporary ARC components, you will be continually amazed at what is possible. I now have all contemporary ARC Reference components… truly amazing, really a dream come true.

ARC is long running legendary for a reason but. lets face it, impossible to stock all the parts needed forever and in the case of power supply caps impossible, they can go bad on the shelf… The amp can be recapped w modern parts but it is modification work the factory might not want to perform or stand behind or have gum up the flow of work they are prepared to do. There are many audio firms that this situation applies to. ARC life any storied company has flaws and detractors. i wish them well as they make other choices. Hopefully in twenty years time they are happy…..

You have some great components, especially that Ref preamp ;-) my suggestion in looking for soeakers is chat with and visit a few experienced ARC dealers, they will know what pairs well.

Finally how wonderful that the sound and music have you so energized and inspired, should we all wish to do as you !

Jim

Not to bash ARC but telling you they can’t fix or restore your amp is something you’d rarely hear from the folks in Binghamton ....   

@oddiofyl

seriously now, ’not to bash’, or specifically to bash?  that is whole purpose you posting on this thread right?

how nice of you to drop by to chime in... twice 👍

On Monday i will give a call to the good but imperfect folks in Binghampton and ask a few questions: Do you have the following NOS parts in stock for my MC240 ? M-207A power transformer, M-210B output transformer, and more importantly a laser and servo for my MCD205 ? i want to thank you for the now decades old response to a request for a MX-110 selector switch…. The answer i got looks a whole lot like the ARC email, except it was…typed…on a…typewriter…

This is why i warn people to pick your audiogon expert w care…. some of us have been around the block…a few times….

Jim

but…..for work that the MC factory might not want to do and good techs on the E Coast, there is always Audio Classics in Vestal, NY. They have the skill to go thru the ARC amp and get it in tippy top shape. For a W Coast based Mac expert I strongly suggest Randy Vikan, he fixes factory defects in MC gear, will he did on my MR-85…. like i said, like all of us…good but imperfect..

Carry on

Jim

I recently had a power amp fuse holder assembly ( part of a circuit board, which I do not do any longer ), repaired and rebuilt by Kris Rhoades, proprietor of " Fine Tuned Audio ", located in Central Florida. He is incredibly talented, knowledgeable, and so into tubes. He builds tube amps and preamps shown on his website, and are very reasonably priced. 

Listen they are great sounding amps , but they don’t do what other companies do for their legacy products. That is a fact. I’m not a McIntosh fanboy by any measure. I had some of their products from the “Clarion” days.... probably the darkest days ever for them . They weren’t bad, the entry level was better than most brands top efforts at the time and that still holds true today .

I should say that C15 and 7100 never gave me any trouble and I almost doubled my money on them ....