ARC Ref 210...tube virgin

@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?

If an output tube fails would you rather replace the tube and a fuse or send the amp out for repair?  That's what I don't like.  Plus some ARC amps are not user friendly for bias adjustment although the Ref 210 appears to have a user friendly bias adjustment.

To make it explicit, I think rhljazz is alluding to ARC tube amps having the tendency to blow out a resistor and sometimes a capacitor when a tube fails (which they do), necessitating repair after a "normal" maintenance event in a tube amp's life.

I know I sold off some ARC Classic 120 mono's that sounded just wonderful, but I sure got tired of the trip to ARC for repair when a tube went out (and they had a lot of them).  It seems that the ARC design philosophy still allows for this weakness.

I believe the ARC design team feels fuses on output power tubes cause an unacceptable loss of sound quality in their amps. They prefer to sacrifice a resistor (or more) to protect the rest of the amp rather than sacrifice the loss in sq they have found fuses to cause in their amps. It is up to the consumer to decide if they want to own and maintain an amp so designed. There are, after all, other real good sounding power amps which DO have fused output tubes, not requiring repair every time a power tube fails!

 I have a very similar system. Audio Research Ref 5se, Ref 110 and Sonus Faber Elipsa SE speakers.

 The Elipsa SEs don't need the extra power of the Ref 210s. i would opt for a Ref 150. Especially for a tube newbie. My Ref 110 has no problem driving them. If i remember correctly, they are rated at 92db..

 A tube preamp will make much more of an impact on the sound. If i only had one tube component in my system it would be the preamp. Tube preamps also need a lot less attention. You can always move to a tube amp later.

 If you want to replace your amp first, I would go with something solid state like a Pass 60.8. The Elipsa SEs are 4 ohm speakers.  The 60.8 is rated at something like a 120 watts into 4 ohms before it ever leaves class A. It also is a superb match with the Elipsa SEs as well as Audio Research preamps.

The Audio Research Ref 110, 150 and 150se are all easy to bias. I have never had a resistor pop in my Ref 110. But it does happen. I have had maybe 2 pop in the last 20 years. It takes a violent tube failure to pop one, not just the normal tube failing. You don't need to send the amp back to Audio Research. Almost all dealers can easily do it in house or have a service guy who will do it.