Your preamp has a.3.year warranty on all but the tubes (90 days). If you open up the preamp and switch the left and right channel tubes to see if the problem switches sides, then you've found the problem. I'd give that a go before jumping into another big purchase.
Reference 1 has been out of production for more than 2 decades. If he’s owned it for a year, he bought it 2nd hand, likely from seller that knew it had issues. Either way, it’s out of warranty. If he’s sends to Minnesota factory, they’ll not only recondition the unit, they’ll warrant the unit for 3 years. That’s the best preamp in ARC history, well worth the investment in factory repairs/reconditioning.
Alphonso just needs to have his Reference One serviced!! Although it was introduced nearly 30 years ago, it *remains* one of the best line stages built. A lot less money invested to simply repair the unit than to replace it with something very likely to be inferior to what you have now!
The BHK preamp that Paul referred to is EXCELLENT! Tube input and Mosfet output. Ive had one for a few years and other than yearly replacement of a pair of tubes it's been flawless. Great sound with many inputs including balanced. Good luck!
@@JJ-no2obthey are being replaced yearly because Paul says to, which isn't necessary. The last tubes I bought for my preamp were Linlai 6sl7 and they lasted 2.5 years powered up 24/7 most of the time, my nos ken rads lasted about 4 years.
Get an estimate on how much the repair would cost. You’re dealing with classic equipment. Then based on cost of repair you can make a decision. There are plenty of inexpensive preamps on the market that sound truly excellent.
Exactly. Nautilus is the flagship for many years and is still in production. It requires two power amp (or four pieces in case of monoblocks). Not to be mixed up with 800, 801, 802.
1:11 The first 800 series of the body type before the diamond tweeters (Dx series) was calles the 8xx Nautilus or the N8xx, in production 1998-2005. My relatives owned N 801 & N 802. I own a pair of 802 D2 from 2015. Bad news - the original Nautilus (the snails) which have been in production for around 30 years, needs to be quad amped, yes I said it right - 4 stereo amplifiers or 8 monoblocks! It comes with an active crossover included. I read of an instance an extremely wealthy audiophile used 8 Classe Audio Omega amplifiers to drive his.
Reference 1 was an exceptionally good preamp, both in its day and by today’s standards. ARC still offers factory repairs. Obviously not convenient living halfway around the globe from their Minnesota factory but that’s definitely what I would do. Go to their website and contact support to arrange repair. Even if it’s an extensive repair required, it’s far less costly than finding a new replacement of equivalent quality and you’ll have a new 3 year warranty on the unit
I bought a Freya Plus for 300.00 not working, I sent it to the factory.. A few weeks and 100.00 plus shipping I had a good as new preamp. Still in system and I could not be happier. Waiting for Freya plus plus to come out. But with the price of tubes now I find that unlikely.
I picked up a Freya Noval for the same price and was amazed at the performance. I’ve owned many high end preamps through the years and the Noval is at least their equal. I like the 6922 tubes and had a few that were collecting dust. The Genalex gold lions sound the best to my ears. I can even go to the buffer stage and save on tube life. Those guys at Schiit know what they’re doing.
Fix it and and before you sell it order a PS audio preamp, and maybe buy used Conrad Johnson or Aesthetix Calypso. You’ll get your money back on the used equipment for the most part and PS Audio has return policy. Over my 45 years of adult listening it takes time for synergy and I have been surprised many times by what works and doesn’t work. Note, I’ve never had a PS Audio preamp in my system, so I have no idea, but I know they’re highly regarded by many people
No, Paul.. B&W 802 Nautilus is definently not the "snaul" speaker. It has dual 8 inch woofers in their own enclosure 6,5 (or 7 inch?) inch midrange on top in a kinda dome shaped enclosure and 1 inch dome tweeter in that "microphone lokking" enclosure on top of that again.
lol if he didn't have at least a two-year warranty, he should've probably never bought it in the first place!😵💫 sounds to me like he got a lemon or he better check his cables and connections ..
Tryout a Nuprime DAC-10...under 2k. Sounds great! Its a dac/pre. Eliminates separate dac and separate pre. Bhk is 7k. Total overkill! A preamp is essentially just a volume control. Paying $7000 for one is just a huge waste of money.
This one apparently has tubes according to what others have noted. Solder joints can fail, old electrolytic capacitors can dry up and change value, some even "pop" their tops off. I had that happen to some on a computer motherboard. Anything can fail, no matter how "simple" it is. I have a Carver C-1 preamp (solid state) and it was having issues similar to this guy's...one channel lower, some weird "pumping" of the volume on that one channel and all. Sent it for service, got it back, just as good as new now, maybe even better with the components that were replaced.
Side Note: It Just Boggles My Mind That Some Dude in The Philippines 🇵🇭 Would Shell Out Over $100 Thousand Bucks For a Pair Of B$W Nautilus Speakers 🔊 When He Could Actually Hire The Band Journey To Play Live In Alphonso’s Living Room For 1/2 The Price Of The Nautilus Speakers 🔊 To Begin With Just Saying 😮 Now Am Back To My Unusual Self
@@mitchtaylor6512 Yes, if there are many of them only here in yt, imagine how many there realy are. I never understood this mostly US thing, of something faulty thrown in the trash bin or being sent to authorized service shops. Too much money thrown away. Question is rhetorical, but is this a combination of 1st world problems together with cluelessness, may be?
Your preamp has a.3.year warranty on all but the tubes (90 days). If you open up the preamp and switch the left and right channel tubes to see if the problem switches sides, then you've found the problem. I'd give that a go before jumping into another big purchase.
Reference 1 has been out of production for more than 2 decades. If he’s owned it for a year, he bought it 2nd hand, likely from seller that knew it had issues. Either way, it’s out of warranty. If he’s sends to Minnesota factory, they’ll not only recondition the unit, they’ll warrant the unit for 3 years.
That’s the best preamp in ARC history, well worth the investment in factory repairs/reconditioning.
Alphonso just needs to have his Reference One serviced!! Although it was introduced nearly 30 years ago, it *remains* one of the best line stages built. A lot less money invested to simply repair the unit than to replace it with something very likely to be inferior to what you have now!
Got my 40 year old Naim preamp recapped and it still sings .. I’ll never let it go.
Thank you, Paul, for sharing!
The BHK preamp that Paul referred to is EXCELLENT! Tube input and Mosfet output. Ive had one for a few years and other than yearly replacement of a pair of tubes it's been flawless. Great sound with many inputs including balanced. Good luck!
Wow - tube replacement yearly! What type are you using and how often are are they on ? (24/7 all year long) ?
Preamp are not needed in the signal path. There are countless dac/pres out there.
Much better sound with a good preamp.@@ryanschipp8513
@@JJ-no2obthey are being replaced yearly because Paul says to, which isn't necessary. The last tubes I bought for my preamp were Linlai 6sl7 and they lasted 2.5 years powered up 24/7 most of the time, my nos ken rads lasted about 4 years.
Get an estimate on how much the repair would cost. You’re dealing with classic equipment. Then based on cost of repair you can make a decision. There are plenty of inexpensive preamps on the market that sound truly excellent.
The 802 Nautilus is not the one with the snail shaped bass enclosure. That’s just called Nautilus without a number.
Exactly. Nautilus is the flagship for many years and is still in production. It requires two power amp (or four pieces in case of monoblocks). Not to be mixed up with 800, 801, 802.
1:11 The first 800 series of the body type before the diamond tweeters (Dx series) was calles the 8xx Nautilus or the N8xx, in production 1998-2005. My relatives owned N 801 & N 802. I own a pair of 802 D2 from 2015.
Bad news - the original Nautilus (the snails) which have been in production for around 30 years, needs to be quad amped, yes I said it right - 4 stereo amplifiers or 8 monoblocks! It comes with an active crossover included. I read of an instance an extremely wealthy audiophile used 8 Classe Audio Omega amplifiers to drive his.
Reference 1 was an exceptionally good preamp, both in its day and by today’s standards. ARC still offers factory repairs. Obviously not convenient living halfway around the globe from their Minnesota factory but that’s definitely what I would do.
Go to their website and contact support to arrange repair. Even if it’s an extensive repair required, it’s far less costly than finding a new replacement of equivalent quality and you’ll have a new 3 year warranty on the unit
I'd get it serviced and be happy. It is going to be hard to find a better preamp.
Still use my nad 1240, recapping my nad 106 now. Dont know how many pre amps i have tryed and found bad comp to these old nads
I bought a Freya Plus for 300.00 not working, I sent it to the factory.. A few weeks and 100.00 plus shipping I had a good as new preamp. Still in system and I could not be happier.
Waiting for Freya plus plus to come out.
But with the price of tubes now I find that unlikely.
I picked up a Freya Noval for the same price and was amazed at the performance. I’ve owned many high end preamps through the years and the Noval is at least their equal. I like the 6922 tubes and had a few that were collecting dust. The Genalex gold lions sound the best to my ears. I can even go to the buffer stage and save on tube life. Those guys at Schiit know what they’re doing.
Fix it and and before you sell it order a PS audio preamp, and maybe buy used Conrad Johnson or Aesthetix Calypso. You’ll get your money back on the used equipment for the most part and PS Audio has return policy. Over my 45 years of adult listening it takes time for synergy and I have been surprised many times by what works and doesn’t work. Note, I’ve never had a PS Audio preamp in my system, so I have no idea, but I know they’re highly regarded by many people
Id send it to arc,legendary company that's known for their pre amps.
No, Paul.. B&W 802 Nautilus is definently not the "snaul" speaker.
It has dual 8 inch woofers in their own enclosure 6,5 (or 7 inch?) inch midrange on top in a kinda dome shaped enclosure and 1 inch dome tweeter in that "microphone lokking" enclosure on top of that again.
www.bowerswilkins.com/en-us/product/loudspeakers/nautilus-series/nautilus/150016.html
Stone speakers, are you thinking of Acora Acoustics?
Yup. Based in Toronto and bought ARC last year when they were having difficulties.
lol if he didn't have at least a two-year warranty,
he should've probably never bought it in the first place!😵💫
sounds to me like he got a lemon or he better check his cables and connections ..
Tryout a Nuprime DAC-10...under 2k. Sounds great! Its a dac/pre. Eliminates separate dac and separate pre. Bhk is 7k. Total overkill! A preamp is essentially just a volume control. Paying $7000 for one is just a huge waste of money.
Yeah, as long as you don't have any analogue sources, there are now tons of DACs that can work as a preamp, and many even as a streamer.
Service all the way.
If you like your pre-amp, you can keep your pre-amp :)
Dont think he is happy with the one he got. IT GET'S TO LOUD WITHOUT😂.
I saw what you did there.😂
I've got a great one, my Jotunheim.
bought an asguard 2 on ebay cheap! pure class a. sounds amazing.
To the fella with the question try creek. Thorens or arcam do pretty neat equipment
Why would a preamp ever fail? Only the controls and pots need cleaning.. dont replace anything thats just dirty
This one apparently has tubes according to what others have noted. Solder joints can fail, old electrolytic capacitors can dry up and change value, some even "pop" their tops off. I had that happen to some on a computer motherboard. Anything can fail, no matter how "simple" it is. I have a Carver C-1 preamp (solid state) and it was having issues similar to this guy's...one channel lower, some weird "pumping" of the volume on that one channel and all. Sent it for service, got it back, just as good as new now, maybe even better with the components that were replaced.
Side Note:
It Just Boggles My
Mind That Some Dude in
The Philippines 🇵🇭 Would
Shell Out Over
$100 Thousand Bucks
For a Pair Of
B$W Nautilus Speakers 🔊 When He Could Actually Hire The Band
Journey To Play Live In
Alphonso’s Living Room
For 1/2 The Price Of
The Nautilus Speakers 🔊 To Begin With
Just Saying 😮
Now Am Back To
My Unusual Self
economicly?????
No need to even send it to Audio Research. Find a good technician and you're done.
You are correct, any competent technician who works on tube equipment should have no problem fixing it, tube preamps aren't that complicated.
@@mitchtaylor6512 Yes, if there are many of them only here in yt, imagine how many there realy are. I never understood this mostly US thing, of something faulty thrown in the trash bin or being sent to authorized service shops. Too much money thrown away. Question is rhetorical, but is this a combination of 1st world problems together with cluelessness, may be?
Khozmo 👍