Audio Research D76

[CHATRITOR]

I have one of these offered to me at $1.1k with tubes marked with the audio research brand ? (I dont remember ARC making tubes but he said its branded ARC).
How much do these go for on average?

 

[Dswankey]

As always check sold/completed listings on sites such as eBay, Reverb, HifiShark

And yes the tubes were branded with ARC logo manufactured by an entity they enlisted to provide them with tube. A lot of companies did that back in the day such as Magnavox, Baldwin, Webcor etc. The good thing for you is that it indicates they are the original tubes

 

[CHATRITOR]

As always check sold/completed listings on sites such as eBay, Reverb, HifiShark

And yes the tubes were branded with ARC logo manufactured by an entity they enlisted to provide them with tube. A lot of companies did that back in the day such as Magnavox, Baldwin, Webcor etc. The good thing for you is that it indicates they are the original tubes

I did, the prices seem to vary quite wildly and my eBay doesn’t display eBay listings that don’t ship to Hong Kong which is a negative

Id assume the fair price is somewhere between 1-2.5k, however I’m not too sure what specific range it is

 

[trinhsman]

I owned one. Great amp 50 years ago. I think 50 is the operative number.
If it’s all original, you could have a lot of dollars having to be spent.
Tread carefully.
IMHO

 

[CHATRITOR]

I owned one. Great amp 50 years ago. I think 50 is the operative number.
If it’s all original, you could have a lot of dollars having to be spent.
Tread carefully.
IMHO

I see. Unrelated to price, how do you think it would compare to amps such as the HK CII / Luxman MB3045?

 

[trinhsman]

I see. Unrelated to price, how do you think it would compare to amps such as the HK CII / Luxman MB3045?

I’ve never heard those amplifiers. Can’t say. However the D-76 was a very well built and great sounding machine.
Re-tubing won’t be cheap. If original, I would expect to have to do a lot of work to bring it up to specifications.

 

[ivandezande]

I have one of these offered to me at $1.1k with tubes marked with the audio research brand ? (I dont remember ARC making tubes but he said its branded ARC).
How much do these go for on average?

Great amp, great price. But plan on having it resotred. Those caps are 100% gutting.

I restored one a few years ago and it was in rough shape. The Brown Devil Ohmite resistor was even dead.

Make sure to keep a fan on it.

 

[mrk229]

I did, the prices seem to vary quite wildly and my eBay doesn’t display eBay listings that don’t ship to Hong Kong which is a negative

Id assume the fair price is somewhere between 1-2.5k, however I’m not too sure what specific range it is

Lots of Audio Research trading hands on U.S. eBay but no D76's, so you did not miss anything.

 

[CHATRITOR]

Great amp, great price. But plan on having it resotred. Those caps are 100% gutting.

I restored one a few years ago and it was in rough shape. The Brown Devil Ohmite resistor was even dead.

Make sure to keep a fan on it.

I see. Might need budget $300-400 for a full recap.

 

[CHATRITOR]

Lots of Audio Research trading hands on U.S. eBay but no D76's, so you did not miss anything.

How much you'd recon itll go for? I did see a nice 76A on audiogon for $1.15k and one sold last year with upgraded power transformers (?forgot) for $1.9k.

 

[SmitterDave]

I would pass on it at that price, I owned one and was underwhelmed with it. I did a partial resto on mine, for a tube amp it had a very dark sound, the 4 ohm tap had the best results.

Going through a total resto may help but with purchase price that high it will be hard to recoup your investment if you do not like it.

Good Luck!

 

[CHATRITOR]

I would pass on it at that price, I owned one and was underwhelmed with it. I did a partial resto on mine, for a tube amp it had a very dark sound, the 4 ohm tap had the best results.

Going through a total resto may help but with purchase price that high it will be hard to recoup your investment if you do not like it.

Good Luck!

I see, I am trying to pick up a western brand tube amp while im at it just for fun.

Have you had any experience with sonic frontiers before? The SFS 80 tempts me.