For ARC lovers, Problems?


I had a ref 6 which I liked a lot and had no problems with. I upgraded to the ref 10 which sounded appreciably better but I ended up with a number of problems that I could no longer tolerate. I have a new pre which is very good but is not nearly as exciting as the audio research sound.
From your experience with Audio Research is this a good idea going back to the ref 6 with the hope of upgrading it to the SE? Or will I regret it due to reliability issues? There are pages on Audiogon concerning ARC reliability issues and I don't want to jump feet first into another expensive audio quicksand.
Any opinions or advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you.

roxy1927
I too have a Ref 6 and love it. I bought it new from an authorized dealer. Same with my Ref 150SE. I have owned ARC gear for over 12 years with a VS110 prior to the new amp and preamp.
No such problems. The VS110 was known for blowing resistors but they were easy to have repaired.
I believe ARC’s customer service went downhill once sold. Now that it is back in previous ownership’s hands, Trent Suggs of TWS, things are likely to get better.
If I did not own ARC, I would likely go with VAC instead. I don’t agree with ebm that VAC has better sound. Different, not better. The current ARC sound is very  neutral and yet precise and liquid. I have listened to VAC and it is a bit warmer, a bit less precise. "Precise" is not a common audio term. By it, I mean more like state of the art solid state in terms of detail and deep powerful bass and yet not dry or high-fi-ish. Better company, yes when McIntosh owned ARC. Now? Remains to be seen.
The matched tubes were NOT close to Audio Research technical requirements.  

apologies.

enjoy
By-the-way, for the record, I like VAC, D'Agostino, Triangle Art and Atmosphere products also.  amoung others.

the fun part would be to do A/B comparisons of each pre-amp in the same system or better yet, in your home system.  matching the levels and switching only that component.  nothing else.

fun.

enjoy

Mixed bad on AR stuff. Told a buddy to brick his ~12 yr old CD player that needed repair.
What is the new pre you're using as a replacement for the ARC?
(Sorry if i missed that in the chain)