Buy tubes from Audio Research or not

This is why I did not buy ARC, the warranty! VTL stands behind their products 5 yrs and with none of that bull. That would have really pissed me off. Vtl also guaranties their tubes 6 months. And they do, I had a few replaced by them no charge, just short of 6 months. Any issues, they bend over backward to satify you. That is what a highend co. is suppose to do and should do, period!

The reason you blew a resistor is because an output tube arced. When this happens the others output tubes are not far behind. Therefore, it's to your advantage to replace all the output tubes since they all have the same amount of hours on them.

Hifigeek1: I own a VS115. Couple months ago, I blew one 6550 "Winged C." As you said, I figured that the other tubes might not be far behind. Fortunately, I had a new set (2 quads) and replaced the 2 quads, checked and adjusted bias and everything seems fine. I rechecked bias 2 weeks ago and made some minor adjustments. As stated, the amp seems just fine. The question is: if the amp works and bias is correct, could the blown tube have caused damage that I am not seeing? Thanks. BIF

Yes. it's possible a resistor or resistors may have changed value. Usually when a tube arcs it takes out a resistor. If you feel the need, you might have a qualified technician make sure the resistors around the failed output tube still measure the proper resistance and that you have correct voltages at the tube socket. G

Hifigeek, just an FYI re your last post. I called ARC and spoke with a tech there. He did NOT disagree with the advice in your last post. However, he did comment that if the output tube and its "slave" (i.e., VS 115) biases within spec, and the amp otherwises operates well and sounds ok, then he thought everything was "probably" ok. I surmise from his comment that the risk of damage and grief from packing and shipping the amp (62 lbs) was greater than the benefit of changing out the resisters, especially if the amp biases ok. OTOH, there is an ARC authorized repair guy near me who I have used before. I once blew a tube on my old VS 110 and it took a resister with it. For a couple of extra bucks, the tech replaced the resister on the spot. But let me tell you, the VS 110 was a pain the butt to schlepp around, even in the back of my car.

BTW, I recently bought a vintage Crown DC300A (approx 45 lbs) off eBay for my son. Based on the pics, the amp was in mint condition. However, when I opened the box and examined the amp, it looked like the carrier played catch with the box and dropped it. The amp suffered minor cosmetic damage. Fortunately, it was going back to the factory anyway for a check-up and the damage was easily fixed. Those old Crowns were bomb proof! Anyway, I will think twice about moving my equipment around unless I really need to.