My Amp is Broken - Not Sure What to Do - Any Recommendations?

Look, I have B&W 801M’s with all caps in series with the speakers bypassed with Audyn True Copper Max caps. Thiel CS-7 speakers, Paradigm Studio Reference 100 V2’s Ellis Audio 1801’s, KEF Reference 105s I have had Quad ELS57s, Acoustat 3300’s Acoustat Mdl 3s, Vandersteen 1Bs, 2CE Signatures, etc. All the Vandersteen speakers that I have heard, including 3A Signatures as I recall, sound like pretty good speakers with blankets over the tweeters. As a test, I bypassed the T-H-R-E-E capacitors IN SERIES on the 2CE Signatures tweeters with a .1uf V-Cap, it made ears bleed. They knocked down they highs so the tweeters were not crazy hot. As a test, I installed a pair of Hiquphon tweeters, they didn’t have the range of the Vandersteen tweeters, and the crossover was tuned to the Vandersteen tweeters, but the details were now there without the harsh highs as they should have been all along. A friend was over and immediately fell in love with them. I explained that with those tweeters there would be issues, but he loves them anyway, and he wanted nothing to do with them without and especially with the V-Caps until I decided to try out the Hiquphons. So, I know bright from dark, and frankly I now have a full range driver and with no crossover whatever, that is THE most detailed speaker I have EVER heard. In fact I pretty much had to revamp my entire stereo because of the ability of these drivers to revel details. Anyway, Vandersteens excel at masking upstream issues. They sound very musical, very enjoyable unless you are about really drilling down on detail. Detail can ruin an otherwise beautiful song. Poor recordings, less than awesome equipment, etc., etc., are all good reasons to love Vandersteen speakers. Relentless details are not for everyone! If you love Vandersteens, that’s great, enjoy them. Everyone has different goals where their listening is concerned. Find yours, and enjoy before you end up with a ridiculous list of gear that you have bought and sold!

I am a fan of ARC equipment and I have owned various amps and preamps of theirs, both tube and solid state through the years. The planned obsolescence on some of their solid state equipment is an issue for me also, however. In the 1980's they had the Analog Modules which are no longer available. They were proprietary modules sealed with potting material. I have spoken with people who tried to dissect them with acetone and figure out the circuit and recreate it, but they had limited success. The early solid state amps (D52, D100, D110, D350 etc.) and preamps (SP4, SP5) all used these modules, and now this equipment has been scrapped or parts out due to lack of availability. I have had to junk a D52B and a D350 because these modules are no longer available.

Ouch! The government regulates support for equipment, but sometimes even that ends up being ignored. A manufacturer is supposed to stock enough spares to last X years depending upon the product. Stereos are likely about 3 years. Near the end of tube screen TVs a salesman told me that one TV had a faulty horizontal flyback transformer issue, and they had run out of spares, but were still selling the TVs, so the spares are judged based upon estimates/projections not actual parts lives.

The parts did not go obsolete.  Check OnSemi, aka ON Semiconductor who manufactures the parts.  Audio Research EOLed the SD135 and HD220.  

johnsonwu, cool!