ARC Coupling Capacitors

[Harlequin]

Good evening.

I am hoping that fellow ARC owners may be in a position to assist in clarifying ARC's recent coupling capacitors implementation across the various amp/pre amp models .

One of the salient bullet points with regard to the newer Reference models was the utilization of the larger white Teflon capacitors in the output stage of said models and of pertinent interest the Ref 150 .

From ARC's Ref 150 webpage ~ " All-new interstage coupling capacitors using technology and materials first incorporated in our Anniversary Edition preamplifier "

IIRC most if not all the early review samples appeared to show under the hood images of these capacitors in circuit and were indeed commented upon , and clearly visible in the images from CES 2013 ~


I have very recently taken possession of my New Ref 150 only to find the amplifier sporting what appears to be the smaller gold colour ( Non Teflon ? ) coupling capacitors as found on the previous model Ref 110 / Ref 5.

I need to double check with my dealer that their demo unit which elicited my order was indeed sporting Teflon coupling capacitors.

I cannot help but wonder how much in the sum of upgraded parts are the white Teflon caps an important factor and whether the latest units , without said Teflon capacitors, would score quite so highly with the same reviewers !

I am not quite sure as yet whether I should feel somewhat disappointed with ARC over this matter

[cmalak]

Perhaps a call into ARC is in order. I believe there was an issue with the supplier of the white Teflon caps (but don't quote me on that), but I agree with you that it seemed from the reviews of the Ref 5SE, the Ref Phono 2SE, the Ref 150, the Ref 250 and the 40th Anniversary edition preamp were all sporting the white Teflon caps and many a reviewer singled them out as a contributing factor to the fuller/meatier sonic signature these pieces exhibited as compared to their predecessors. I believe the new Ref 10 does not sport them so it may be an issue with the supplier. If you do follow up with ARC, I would be interested to hear what they say. Thanks.

[rscotth]

Originally Posted by cmalak

Perhaps a call into ARC is in order. I believe there was an issue with the supplier of the white Teflon caps (but don't quote me on that), but I agree with you that it seemed from the reviews of the Ref 5SE, the Ref Phono 2SE, the Ref 150, the Ref 250 and the 40th Anniversary edition preamp were all sporting the white Teflon caps and many a reviewer singled them out as a contributing factor to the fuller/meatier sonic signature these pieces exhibited as compared to their predecessors. I believe the new Ref 10 does not sport them so it may be an issue with the supplier. If you do follow up with ARC, I would be interested to hear what they say. Thanks.

+1

[joeling]

FWIW, I have 2 sets of ref250. On one set, one channel failed once. For the other, one channel failed twice. All failure occurred around the 150 - 200 hrs mark. Failure cause was the coupling Teflon capacitor.

Consolation is that the set that is in my system has done 900+hrs. Fingers crossed.

The 2 sets of ref110s that I had (since sold) with the gold caps did not have this issue.


Regards,
Joe Ling

[Harlequin]

Sorry to hear of your tribulations Joe , tho most interesting .

Presumably the previously , and it would appear , currently utilized coupling capacitors are either regular Polypropylene or possibly a Film/Foil type.

I will run this past my local dealer who may be able to shed a little light on the matter , altho I rather suspect some small print ' ARC reserve the right ......... ' will come into play here !

[BlueSky]

I would ask your dealer how old his "demo" unit actually was. Quite possibly it was manufactured prior to ARC cutting over to the new white caps as they advertised.

[Harlequin]

Originally Posted by BlueSky

I would ask your dealer how old his "demo" unit actually was. Quite possibly it was manufactured prior to ARC cutting over to the new white caps as they advertised.

Awaiting a call back as I type , however I suspect the current situation to be the opposite way around

[microstrip]

My REF40 has the same type of capacitors as my REF150 - the white Teflons.

As the new REF10 has some smaller gold capacitors - AFAIK very different from the older gold ones used in the non SE REF5, it is natural that the new REF150's also have this new type of gold capacitor.

Unfortunately, even dealers do not seem to be sure what is the exact type of capacitor being currently used by ARC - only as Warren Gehl told they are the currently using the best sounding type!

[Frank750]

Originally Posted by microstrip

My REF40 has the same type of capacitors as my REF150 - the white Teflons. As the new REF10 has some smaller gold capacitors - AFAIK very different from the older gold ones used in the non SE REF5, it is natural that the new REF150's also have this new type of gold capacitor. Unfortunately, even dealers do not seem to be sure what is the exact type of capacitor being currently used by ARC - only as Warren Gehl told they are the currently using the best sounding type!

Doesn't matter what color the capacitors are, they all seem to take forever to break in. I've got 110 hours on a Ref 10 pre and Ref 10 Phono and they sound very bad right now.

[guitardave]

I think both colors are Teflon. I also recall that the ref110 had the gold caps and was advertised as having Teflon caps.
I have a fairly early ref150 and it has the white caps, so I think that is the norm...