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Unhappy with tubes so which transistor amp?

Hi guys,

About 6 months back I bought an ARC Ref110. For one reason or another I am still running on the demo unit which has failed 2 times during this time. The first time it was one of the output tubes which was blown. This time it simply won't power up. I have checked the fuse and it looks ok but the amp shows no sign of life.

Based on my experience so far I am thinking that I will sell my unit brand new when I get it next week. I don't want to deal with a piece which breaks down often as for me reliability is one of the key criteria as I am totally zero on the technical side of electronics (changing the fuse may be as technical as it gets for me). So even stuff like biasing, changing tubes after x amount of hours looks like a lot of work to me.

Now after this background I come to the million dollar question. Since replacing the amp with my old Aragons I have noticed that I have lost significantly in 3 areas.

1) Soundstage does not seem to be as big as with the Ref110 specially in regard to sound coming from outside the speaker thing, which btw is gives you an awesome feeling if you are listening with the lights switched off

2) I have lost the mid range magic. This is painfully apparent in vocals as they have lost their sense of realism.

3) Digital glare and harshness has also crept back in the system.

Now I am looking for an amp that is SS but can give me back what I have lost although I am not sure about number 2 as everyone says you can't do it with SS. Basically I am looking for an SS amp with huge soundstage, beautiful and natural (not "smooth" as in muffled) midrange and san any digital glare. Price should be ~10K new or used.

The related equipment is ARC CD3 MKII, ARC LS26 and Peak Consult Empress loud speakers.

Any help or ideas is welcome.

Thanks

P.S. I posted the same on speaker forum by mistake. Mods please feel free to delete the other thread. Thanks
rayden1972
gundam91
506 posts
 
I second the Pass. I have the a GNSC modified LS-25 Mk I with Amperex 7308 white label tubes. Used to pair with a Mark Levinson #333 running a pair of Thiel 3.6. Switched over to Pass X350.5 about a year, and was impressed at how good the Pass sounded. If you like the tube midrange and SS dynamics, I think Pass is an excellent choice! If you don't need a lot of power, check out the XA series, which would be around the same price range as the ARC Ref amps.

The rest of my system:
Digital: Mark Levinson #37 + Sonic Frontiers SFD2 Mk II
Analog: Michell Orbe SE + SME V + Shelter 901 + ARC PH3 SE

FrankC
nsgarch's avatar
nsgarch
2,524 posts
 
You are not unhappy with tube amps, you are unhappy with the ARC tube amp. You love the sound but don't want maintenance/reliability headaches. Understood. What you want is a great sounding, low maintenance tube amp. I suggest a pair of new McIntosh MC275 Mk-V running as monoblocks. They don't require biasing, are easy on power tubes, run very cool without fans, and are only $3900 MSRP each. Your speakers have 90dB sensitivity, so the MC275's will provide all the power you need and deliver great sonics.
hifisoundguy
630 posts
 
What about digital amps from http://www.digitalamp.com
justlisten's avatar
justlisten
489 posts
 
Plinius sa100, or Symphonic Line RG1 Mk3. very tube like solid state designs. btw---some Solid state amps need biasing and they all have fuses, so you may not want to give up on tubes if you like the sound. I have run tube amps for over 20 years, no major issues .
rayden1972 OP
22 posts
 
Thanks for all the responses guys. I do have faith in ARC Customer Service but the problem is I am based in Switzerland and my dealer is in Germany. So its quiet inconvenient to send the amp to Germany everytime something breaks. Additionally I want the luxury of just knowing where the power button is on my amps and I guess that is pretty much impossible with any tube amp.

I am thinkin about Pass and Plinius (SS) and LAMM M1.2 and ARC HD220 (hybrid). Mcintosh could also be an option but I have to check the availability and pricing here. Any other choices with world class mid range? One thing I definitely want is to buy something which can be offloaded fairly quickly if I want to change so I don't want to go for exotic products.

I have heard the DartZeel with my speakers and it sounded muddy and slow which was quiet a surprise based on the praise this amp gets on the forums.

I have heard the name Nuforce being mentioned a couple of times and its aroused my curiousity. Unfortunately the availability of this amp is a bit of an issue in Switzerland.

My fear with using the new unit is that if I use it and tnan after a couple of months end up selling it due to reliability reasons I don't know how much money I will lose. This is particularly important for tube gear as everyone knows that there is wear and tear which is not a big issue with good SS products.

Thanks

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