Re-tubing my Audio Research Ref 3


Hi, after getting great advice on this site re re-tubing my ARC ref 110 power amp, I was persuaded to do it myself so have detailed advice on biasing etc. Anyway I decided to buy the valves/tubes for my ref 3 too. Apparently as most made in Russia, supplies are running out so thought I might as well get them - also the ref 3 has 3,850 hours on them.

Anything i need to know about putting these in. Do they need biasing etc? Or just put them in?

willmarchant

Preamp tubes don’t need biasing adjustments. The four 6H30 for the audio circuit should ideally be a matched quad, in which case put them in any which way. If you have 2 matched pairs, ask ARC for guidance on the best layout to deploy them in. If you don’t have any matched tubes here (matching within ~ 10% on mu and Gm) - you should have bought a matched quad :)

The power regulator tubes are both singles, so just put them in.