My power amp ARC VT 100 keeps blowing tube

Hi Jea48

The 6922 tubes were replaced at the same time as the power tubes. So they only have 200 hours. All was biased 1 year ago by authorised agent of ARC

As the power tubes burn in their bias will drift. The bias needs to be checked and ajusted for the first hundred hours or so. Even with tubes purchased from ARC. Power tubes change as they break in. After the burn in period the bias should remain pretty steady.

Setting the bias for the power tubes on the VT 100 is not that hard. The driver tubes are a bit more tricky. I owned that amp for a number of years and set the bias many times.

First off, I never use KT88's in ARC products. That being said, I'm guessing you have a problem underneath V16 tube socket, or the tube socket itself is bad. The problem is not necessarily setting the bias on VT100's, the issue is setting up the balance on the front end of that amp. It is not an easy thing to do. The input tubes must be matched and I only use ARC tubes. Replacing the input tubes without setting it up properly can shift the D.C. operating points thereby raising distortion and potentially causing issues.

Sounds like a trip to the service center to me.

If you are in or near Cali. I can help you....