ARC Ref 210...tube virgin

There are plenty of choices of amps that don't suffer circuit damage when a tube fails.  Many amps are easy to bias as well.  ARC amps don't meet my expectations.  

If you haven't yet decided on what speakers you'll be using, it's probably premature to choose an amplifier. Given that you've never owned a tube amplifier before, what led you to decide on buying a Ref 210?

I wouldn't rule out a Pass amp. Do your research regarding heat, tube life and cost to re-tube. ARC makes wonderful - great tube amps, but not for me. I'll stick with my Pass amp with a tube preamp. 

adg101 is right. It's usually the norm to use a great tube preamp with any number of SS amps (sticking with mono amps is a good plan). I've had my eye on a Pass 250.8 (stereo) and Pass 100.8 (monos).

@rhljazz - what don't you like about ARC amps?

@cleeds - I initially wanted a speaker upgrade but the opportunity of the deal that was presented unfortunately required the sale of my GamuT M250i mono blocks (I haven't sold them yet) so I wanted to replace them with a good affordable alternative on the used market. I've heard good things about the Ref 210 & always wanted to try tubes.

@adg101 - why don't you like ARC amps?