New Audio Research Reference 150 SE

02-26-15: Philb7777
Geez, I bet it will be $10k for a pair of Ref 250's. That's too much scratch......

Philb7777, you were close. Today Kal said $9k for upgrading Ref250 to SE which includes a new set of tubes. New Ref250SE is $34K. A $8K increase from Ref250. I guess a new set of tubes from ARC including KT150, 6h30 and 6550 is ~$4k so $5k for the upgrade. $2.5K per mono.

I have ~400 hours on my Ref250 now and it sounds amazing so decided no tube rolling or upgrade until tubes need replacing. For now I'm leaning towards upgrade route when it's time.

http://www.theaudiobeat.com/news/arc_reference_se_amps.htm

03-11-15: Opus111
Why not wait for a Reference 150SE MKII? It should be out by the end of the year

Nahhhhh ... life is too short. I hope they do offer a MKII so I can upgrade again after my SE upgrade.

I'm glad ARC offers upgrades. It's less expensive than replacing with something new.

http://www.monoandstereo.com/2015/03/audio-research-reference-250-se-new.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+monoandstereo%2FHOym+%28MONO+AND+STEREO+Ultra+High-End+Audio+Magazine%29

04-22-15: Bifwynne
Oregonpapa ... Kal said the Ref 150 is just too big for UPS and FedEx and ARC insists on using a pallet. Box and amp weigh 90 pounds. Don't know how much the Ref 75 weighs. Well that's the story anyway. Looks like the amp is scheduled to be delivered this Friday after all.

UPS and FedEx will ship less packages than 150#. According to Kal, ARC switched to freight for safer transport. Once a service request is created, ARC can arrange pickup from your home with ARC corporate discount.

With my Ref250, 2 packages going freight will be expensive even with ARC discount.