2. amps-preamps
  3. 1066887554

Easier maintenance ARCVT100mkII or VTL mb125

I'm wondering if anyone with experience with either of these amps could shed some light on the subject of retubing and setting bias.

As I don't know much about either I should explain that Im looking for a tube amp with ease of use and lower costs to retube. I heard the ARC can be quite pricey and tricky to retube/bias etc.

Any info would be useful and appreciated.
Thanks
alun
ig40
64 posts
 
Do not know about the VTL MB125, however, the ARC VT100MKII can be tricky and expensive to re-tube. Try
http://mycollins.net/audio/ He goes through the re-tubing procedure for the ARC. (Nice detailed pictures) Last time I checked with ARC, the cost to retube the 100MKII was in the $800-$1000 range plus freight.
jfrech's avatar
jfrech
1,816 posts
 
I can't comment on the ARC or VTL. But, you can get autobias tube amps. Wolcott's and BAT are 2 examples...
nti75
29 posts
 
Ease of maintenance led me to the BAT VK-60 with autobiasing. No need to mess with meters and small tools.
newbee
4,767 posts
 
The expense and hassle of ARC Tube amps caused me to switch some time ago. Except for the latest model, biasing them was a PITA (for me anyway). There are a lot of amps which allow bias of each tube individually using either an LED or a meter (built in or otherwise). These are easy to use and for the most part allow you to replace individual tubes with like kind and quality with out the need for matching. Auto bias is convenient but not necessary.
More to discover