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My Audio Research experience

To all you goners out there, here is my experience with Audio Research.

Approximately four years ago I purchased an AR Reference 75 power amp.  It was on special at the time and I bought if from a dealer in Brisbane, Australia.

I used the amp for the rear channels of my home theatre system which I only use occasionally because I travel a lot for work and I mainly listen to music.

One night I switched the amp on and a white flash and burning smell came from the amplifier and it didn’t power up.  I thought it may have been a tube, and because I had no spares, I reported the problem to my Brisbane dealer and via email to Audio Research.  A copy of the reply sent from AR on the 5th March 2016 follows:

'Thank you for choosing Audio Research and the REF75. I suspect you had an internal tube arc. The internal tube short can also take out a plate or screen resistor. So just replacing the tube will not fix this problem. The resistors also need to be replaced. You can confirm this by checking the bias for this tube. If the bias reads zero, a resistor is open.  This is an easy repair that our distributor in Australia can do.

The SE update for the REF75 comes with a complete new set of tubes including a new set of KT150s.  This is the only way it is sold. If you so choose, Our Australian distributor can also install this SE upgrade for you while the amp is in for repair.'

I then proceeded to order some more tubes to see if a replacement tube would fix the problem.

I ordered the following tubes:

2 x Electro-Harmonix 6H30Pi Gold with Matched Triodes (Balanced)

4 x KT150 Power Vacuum Tube - [Matching (10+ tubes)]

4 x KT120 Power Vacuum Tubes - [Matching (10+ tubes)]

When they arrived, I tried the new tubes but they didn’t fix the problem as the amplifier failed to switch on.  I then contacted my dealer and freighted the amplifier to Brisbane for repair.  This was done in June of last year.  I included all of the above tubes in the package in case they were needed.  I also would have liked the amp to be upgraded to SE status using the tubes supplied if possible.

In September/October last year I enquired about the status of the repair and before Christmas enquired again. After again emailing AR, I was contacted by the Australian Distributor who told me that the service agent in Brisbane had been trying to get parts for the wrong amplifier and that the amplifier would be transported to Melbourne for repair.  I asked them to get me a price for the upgrade using my tubes.

In January/February of this year, I was contacted by the Australian Distributor and had to supply proof of purchase because there was a dispute over whether the amplifier was in fact under warranty when the fault occurred.  I again asked about getting the upgrade using the supplied tubes which were still with the repair agent in Brisbane.  Eventually I was told that I could have the upgrade using AR tubes only, for the heavily discounted price of $3,000 Australian.  Nothing like gouging your customers!!!!!!  Especially when I could have bought a small car for the original cost of the amplifier in Australia.

I chose to just get the original amplifier repaired under warranty which I was told needed a new main circuit board.  This week my amplifier finally arrived back home after nearly 12 months away for a repair under warranty.  The original tubes have been put in a box with ‘Faulty Old Tubes,’ written on the box.  The tubes I sent with the amplifier have not been returned, and no replacement tubes have been included.

I am amazed that the initial fault destroyed six tubes, so I have asked how the Distributor tested the tubes to determine that they were faulty.  I am now left with an amplifier that doesn’t work and 10 expensive vacuum tubes missing somewhere in Australia.  I am also left with a conundrum, if when I finally get my tubes back and use them to ensure the amplifier works, what happens if it doesn’t.  Will AR then blame me for any fault that occurs on power up because I haven’t purchased tubes from them at their heavily marked up prices????

For me I will never touch another Audio Research product for as long as I reside on this planet.  I will be telling all my audiophile friends and putting this report on every forum that will publish it.  Best of luck for the future Audio Research and may you drown in your policy mess!!!

128x128thazeldean
j_stereo
130 posts
 
I have never had any piece of audio equipment repaired where I thought it was inexpensive.  Whether it was from the manufacturer or locally at a dealer (back when they existed). And when I did have something repaired at a local shop and found it was a bit less expensive, I had to take it back 2 or 3 times until it was fixed properly.  If it is not a repair you can do yourself, you are guaranteed to pay through the nose anywhere you take it or send it.  Same thing applies to audio equipment, cars, your house, etc.
georgeatcarolina
5 posts
 
Just my opinion : a manufacturer has to be legally responsible for who it contracted to be the sole distributor and its authorized dealers. That's what separates "grey market" from authorized.
axeis1
278 posts
 
The real issue here that no one mentioned is that ARC does not fuse the biasing resistors, so when a tube fails and they all do at some point it takes out the resistors and if the tube fails badly enough maybe a board.
jetter
2,971 posts
 

You are correct axeis about the real issue but incorrect as it has been mentioned several times above.
triode12's avatar
triode12
25 posts
 
I have read the OPs initial post again and I think he may perhaps have misunderstood what the $3000 cost was for. I believe that the $3000 cost was not just for the new KT150 tubes but also for the new SE upgrade mainboard. Which would be inline with the cost I paid to upgrade my 250s to 250SEs.

When I purchased my ARC250s monos last year from a dealer in Sydney, they were like new Demos which I paid $9000 each (yes, we do get ripped off down under) to upgrade them to 250SEs.  This cost not only included 2 new main boards but two new sets of KT150 tubes plus freight to and from Melbourne. No OPT replacements were required. 

Also, if the dealer had sat on the repair for months and not returned his new tubes, he shouldn't blame the distributor or ARC. It appears that the blame lands squarely on the Brisbane dealer. I would be relating the whole debacle to ARC and Synergy Audio(ARC's Aussie distributor) via email. 

Having said that, the quality of ARC gear hasn't been great for a while now. My tech and friend used to be the Authorised ARC tech for Australia when Audio Connection in Sydney was the ARC distributor. He has repaired a lot ARC gear for at least 10 years, He has been in the Hifi game for over 40 years (at one point owing a hifi store in the 70s) and has seen it all. He was able to rebuild two D125s from just their OPTs and Power Transformers (which were found at the dump) i.e. he is a very skilled technician.

The Ref 600s and VT100 Mk1 & 2 amps were known to be very problematic, they were constantly blowing up due to condensation forming on the vertically mounted PCBs and limited airflow due to the design of the casing (that is why the later 610s and 750s now have top mounted tubes and the VT100Mk3 employed fans). There have been also quality issues with OPTs and Power Transformers in the past 10 years. His workshop is filled with dead ARC OPTs and power transformers.

In spite of all these issues, he still advocates buying ARC gear and he feels that not only do they sound very good, they are very well built and their support is very good. He didn't have any issues with ARC supplying him with schematics and parts when he was working for the old distributor. Some High End companies will not even supply schematics and expect him to debug the problem by relaying the issue to them over the phone (incurring long distance charges) - basically expecting him to be being their (remote) hands and eyes. 



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