Question for you techie types who know your way around a circuit board...

[cmalak]

Do any of you more tech savvy folks know whether this is a resistor? It sits next to the bias pot between two 6550 output tubes. Thx

[klipschfan]

Make: Online : HOW TO - Read color coded resistors

[jdandy]

Cyril.......Yes, that is a resistor.

[cmalak]

Thx Klipschfan and Dan....I had a resistor go bye bye on me yesterday night in my ARC Ref 110 power amp. Heard a loud pop and a slight burnt smell. Thankfully the preamp was muted so no harm to the speakers. I opened up the unit and all the tubes were still fine but the resistor next to one of the bias pots had blown up (literally disintegrated) on one side. Took my amp to my dealer this morning and got a Simaudio W8 power amp to stand in while my unit gets repaired. I am interested in how my system will sound with 250wpc into 8 ohms (doubles into 4 and quadruples into 2 ohms) of solid state power vs. my 110 wpc of tube power. I have heard the Sim Moon amplifiers they are very clean and neutral but I have never mixed the Sim with my ARC Ref 3 tube pre-amp. It will be interesting to see how different the sound will be. Thanks again for the help.

[jdandy]

Originally Posted by cmalak

I have heard the Sim Moon amplifiers they are very clean and neutral but I have never mixed the Sim with my ARC Ref 3 tube pre-amp. It will be interesting to see how different the sound will be. Thanks again for the help.

Cyril.......This is one of the ways a dealer plants the upgrade bug, letting you use a different company's gear while your piece is repaired. The next thing you know, it's a brand new Simaudio system in the living room.

[cmalak]

Dan...I hear you . Actually I was going to buy a Simaudio P7 pre-, W7 power amp and Supernova CD player to drive my Thiels before auditioning the ARC tube electronics and decided to go with ARC. I had the Sim equipment in my house for a few weeks before switching to the ARC and so I am quite familiar with the sound. I have been musing with the idea of subbing out my ARC Ref 110 tube power amp with a beefier SS amp with my Ref 3 pre. My Thiel speakers are not a benign load and do benefit from abundant high quality power behind them. My next speaker (Rockport Miras or maybe even Ankaas ) also like a lot of power, so I am just toying with the idea now. Although, if i decide to go SS, it will be this new amp from ARC:



It's not yet in production (soon will be) but they launched it at CES, driving SF Elipsas and Maggies (i forget which model) in two different rooms and the early reaction to it has been very positive. It puts out 450wpc into 8 ohms, 700 wpc into 4 ohms and 1100 wpc into 2 ohms I believe. At $8K, it is $2K less than my Ref 110s. I can't wait to hear it. The key will be if I lose that tube sound (even with the Ref 3 and CD7 in the signal chain) if I give up the Ref 110. If I do, it's a non-starter.