Buy tubes from Audio Research or not

Tater...if you are not familiar with tube biasing then sending it to ARC to do the retube is the easiest (but most costly) approach but you will be guaranteed a good result. Alternatively, if you can find an audio technician or a dealer with an onsite tech who is willing to do the work for a nominal fee than you can save some money. The most cost effective is to order 6550s from The Tube Store or similar outfit and do the tube replacement yourself and it seems from 77jovian's remarks, ARC will walk you through the process anyway. So I think it is a matter of what you are comfortable with and how important the cost issue is to you. Good luck and let us know how you make out.

After posting the referenced link above, I started to reread some of the responses and realized that "Tater" was the one was asked the same question a year ago...almost to the day.

So Tater, did you retube a year ago and need another retube, or did you just never do it?

Buy winged C 6550 tubes from a reliable tube dealer here on audigon or from one of the recommended sites and save 30-50%

The VT100mkI and mkII are much more tricky to retube due to the driver balancing issues. The mkIII is much easier and shouldn't be lumped in with the earlier versions.

I don't know any onsite people that can do the job. The 2 techs I talked to were both authorized ARC and they will only work with ARC tubes. I can't afford to pay 978.00 for tubes plus 150.00 labor. I'd be happy to buy the tubes and have someone put them in but I don't know anyone. If you know someone that can do it I'll be happy to pay them as long as they know what they are doing.