My Ref Phono 2 is now (or soon to be) outdated...

[microstrip]

New guy,
Nice to know about your new preamplifier. Did you take any photos of the inside when placing the tubes that you want to share with us ?
Audiophiles are really curious!

[enatai252]

cool...enjoy the test. I have a KX-R in another system...sound different...but I like both and feel that each works well in its respective system.

[chessman]

New Guy, welcome aboard!

[Jerome W]

New Guy....
Welcome to AA !

[New guy]

Originally Posted by microstrip

New guy,
Nice to know about your new preamplifier. Did you take any photos of the inside when placing the tubes that you want to share with us ?
Audiophiles are really curious!

Merry Christmas!

I did not take pictures but here is a link that has photos of the guts of REF 5SE and exterior shots.

Audio Research: Audio Research Reference 5 SE

[microstrip]

Comparing these photos with a standard REF5 of an anxious friend, it seems that the upgrade will be simple to carry, if you keep the old black plastic buttons. The output capacitors are changed, and a new lateral board is added with some more capacitors and inductors that connect in parallel with the main supply bank using two wires. ARC already had a preamplfier in its past history that added a board using this type of fixing - the LS2 that could be upgraded to LS2b status adding an extra unbalancing board in this position. I remember watching our distributor technician fitting it to my preamplfier long ago - some extra holes had to be drilled to fix the the board using spacers.

The main PCB shown is exactly the same - the number codes seen in the picture match those of a two year old unit.

[CKKeung]

Hi Microstrip,

Thanks for the Holland website!
I will forward it to a friend of mine who has just bought a near-new Ref5 at the ARC HK dealer's X'mas Sale.

The photos show that Ref5's interior will become quite crowded after the upgrade.
Also, I initially thought that there might be two of the huge telfon capacitors (used in ARC 40) but according to the photos, there won't be any of those.

[Dafos]

The white Teflon caps look similar to those used in the new reference 150/250 amps.

[Puma Cat]

Originally Posted by CKKeung

Also, I initially thought that there might be two of the huge telfon capacitors (used in ARC 40) but according to the photos, there won't be any of those.

Not likely if the upgrade actually costs only $1000.

[microstrip]

Originally Posted by CKKeung

Hi Microstrip,

Thanks for the Holland website!
I will forward it to a friend of mine who has just bought a near-new Ref5 at the ARC HK dealer's X'mas Sale.

The photos show that Ref5's interior will become quite crowded after the upgrade.
Also, I initially thought that there might be two of the huge telfon capacitors (used in ARC 40) but according to the photos, there won't be any of those.

As far as I could see the capacitors seem of the same type as the REF40, but the REF40 uses 350V capacitors and those of the REF5 are rated at 150V. This would explain the volume change, as the Teflon foil would be thinner.