New Monster Audio Research Amplifier

[MylesBAstor]

http://audioresearch.com/Reference750.html

 

[A.wayne]

Well , they have to change there presser , it cant drive anything , they went the wrong way on the output taps 16/8/4 where as the new Carver amp is 8/4/2 and supposedly you can get them to drive 1 ohm ...

Just saying .....

 

[MylesBAstor]

Well , they have to change there presser , it cant drive anything , they went the wrong way on the output taps 16/8/4 where as the new Carver amp is 8/4/2 and supposedly you can get them to drive 1 ohm ...

Just saying .....

My cj is wired for 4 ohms and drives my MLs just fine

 

[DonH50]

Looks impressive. What's the price?

 

[MylesBAstor]

Looks impressive. What's the price?

Not sure of US price. In UK lists for 55,000 pounds or ~$87,000. Will be less in US because of shipping, VAT, etc.

It would be cool if see the amp at RMAF driving the big Vandys or Aidas.

Maybe someone else knows the price?

 

[dafos]

$55k I believe.

 

[LL21]

$55k I believe.

Yeah...that is generally the case. Pounds = dollars when importing US stuff to UK. Wilson XLFs are same price but in pounds. Same with Transparent Audio cables, CJ equipment, and ARC.

 

[LL21]

http://audioresearch.com/Reference750.html

shoot-out with the VTL Siegfrieds? I have never heard either...in fact, never heard this level of power in tubed amplification. Have read the old VTL Wotans were in a class by themselves from standpoint of raw tube power. Light-dimming.

 

[MylesBAstor]

shoot-out with the VTL Siegfrieds? I have never heard either...in fact, never heard this level of power in tubed amplification. Have read the old VTL Wotans were in a class by themselves from standpoint of raw tube power. Light-dimming.

All things being equal, too much power is just enough

I'm sure there were/are a handful of superpowers tube amps. TRL comes to mind. Then there were the shoreline amps. There are a handful in the 500 wpc range. I suspect reliability, price and heat are three factors affecting the design of these class of tube amps.

 

[DonH50]

Thanks Myles, and all. Just curious; I could durn near pay off my house for the cost of a pair. I miss my ARC stuff but it is out of my league now. Good to look and drool! My local'ish Magnepan dealer also carries ARC (surprise, not) so I may be able to hear them together again.

There is just something sweet about a clean faceplate, meters, and tubes glowing in the dark...

Damping factor of 17 is actually not bad for a tube amp, and 750 W is crazy good.

 

[microstrip]

I have no experience with the ARC REF750s, but listened to the REF610T, later with the KT120's. It was the amplifier that thought me that digital red book (CD) could be much better than I could imagine.

Some audiophile friends had the demo unit of our distributor in their systems. They all acknowledged it was easily the best amplifier they have had in their system. The big issues ate heat, valve replacement costs and size.

I am using the ARC REF150 with the Aida's - I calibrated my system with the 0 dB test track of a test CD and found I seldom listen over 60W peak power, even with symphonic music. But what I heard from a pair of Magico Mini mkII driven by the ARC 610T, although not having the bass extreme of the Aida's, was not far in global quality. However when the REF610Ts were replaced by another amplifier (Krell) the scale and musical performance collapsed compared to the big monsters. We were not listening very loud - 100W peaks. AFAIK Aidas' sensitivity is around 89dB/W and Magico Mini 87 dB/W, similar impedance.

 

[MylesBAstor]

Thanks Myles, and all. Just curious; I could durn near pay off my house for the cost of a pair. I miss my ARC stuff but it is out of my league now. Good to look and drool! My local'ish Magnepan dealer also carries ARC (surprise, not) so I may be able to hear them together again.

There is just something sweet about a clean faceplate, meters, and tubes glowing in the dark...

Damping factor of 17 is actually not bad for a tube amp, and 750 W is crazy good.

Don't feel bad. I'm hoping to touch one

Sure ARC will bring a pair to a show though.

 

[mep]

I'm still trying to sell my VS115 so I'm not real high on ARC right now. Some knucklehead from Ebay sent me an email and offered me $2500. I told him I would buy all of them he could find at $2500.

The bottom line is that this new ARC amp looks very similar to its predecessor (which I think is ugly actually-It looks like a damn computer with tubes sticking out of the top) requires very deep pockets to buy and maintain. The cost of a tube change would buy you a really nice amp.

I actually feel sorry for whoever has to write the marketing ads for ARC. I mean really, how do you keep coming up with new adjectives/superlatives to describe how much better the new amp/preamp/phono section/CD player/DAC sounds than the ARC unit it replaced? The units that were just replaced did so many more wonderful things than the unit that they replaced it just makes you wonder how deep the adjective well is. In reality, I think the well has already run dry. I suspect that if you go back and read the ads for the original Ref 600 that it would read remarkably similar to the current ad.

 

[rockitman]

I bet they heat the listening room nicely !

 

[mep]

I am using the ARC REF150 with the Aida's - I calibrated my system with the 0 dB test track of a test CD and found I seldom listen over 60W peak power, even with symphonic music. But what I heard from a pair of Magico Mini mkII driven by the ARC 610T, although not having the bass extreme of the Aida's, was not far in global quality. However when the REF610Ts were replaced by another amplifier (Krell) the scale and musical performance collapsed compared to the big monsters. We were not listening very loud - 100W peaks. AFAIK Aidas' sensitivity is around 89dB/W and Magico Mini 87 dB/W, similar impedance.

Really Micro?? What Krell were you listening to that the scale and musical performance “collapsed” compared to the ARC amps?

 

[microstrip]

I'm still trying to sell my VS115 so I'm not real high on ARC right now. Some knucklehead from Ebay sent me an email and offered me $2500. I told him I would buy all of them he could find at $2500. (...)

Mep,

Summer is a bad time to sell used tube equipment - heat and holidays keep people away from tubes!

 

[microstrip]

Really Micro?? What Krell were you listening to that the scale and musical performance “collapsed” compared to the ARC amps?

The Evo 400 or similar - not very sure anymore. Did you ever listen to the REF610T?

Please note I am not criticizing the Krells - the question I am addressing is synergy with the Magico Mini's. Thinking now about it, I do not remember having seen any Krell - Magico system in forums.

 

[FrantzM]

QUOTE=microstrip;132107] I am using the ARC REF150 with the Aida's - I calibrated my system with the 0 dB test track of a test CD and found I seldom listen over 60W peak power, even with symphonic music. But what I heard from a pair of Magico Mini mkII driven by the ARC 610T, although not having the bass extreme of the Aida's, was not far in global quality. However when the REF610Ts were replaced by another amplifier (Krell) the scale and musical performance collapsed compared to the big monsters. We were not listening very loud - 100W peaks. AFAIK Aidas' sensitivity is around 89dB/W and Magico Mini 87 dB/W, similar impedance.

Really Micro?? What Krell were you listening to that the scale and musical performance “collapsed” compared to the ARC amps?

I, too, would like to know ...

P.S. Thanks ... microstrip

 

[mep]

The Evo 400 or similar - not very sure anymore. Did you ever listen to the REF610T?

Please note I am not criticizing the Krells - the question I am addressing is synergy with the Magico Mini's. Thinking now about it, I do not remember having seen any Krell - Magico system in forums.

No, I have never heard the 610T and doubt I ever will. I am dumb enough to think that the Krell KSA-250 is a monster of an amp. Any amp capable of putting out 4000 watts into a .5 ohm load has a major league power supply. There is a reason why the power transformer weighs 83 lbs. I have never heard this amp break a sweat regardless of the volume level. Somehow I can't see the sound "collapsing" if I switched from a monster ARC tube amp to the Krell. But then, I haven't heard a monster ARC amp in my system. I have heard a bunch of the little ARC monsters in my system though. I still have the VS115 sitting in my room, but I haven't been tempted to swap it out for the Krell though.

 

[FrantzM]

I have heard the ARC 610 T, I have heard the Magico Mini, not together. I have heard the Mini II with a variety of amps, interestingly none of them Krell... I have however enough experience with Krell to know what they do and what they do is take any loudspeakers and with a grip few others amp do ... I have no doubt they would do the same with the Mni II ..

It is about the Arc monster and I invite everyone to come back on topics... My parting shot:

THis statement

However when the REF610Ts were replaced by another amplifier (Krell) the scale and musical performance collapsed compared to the big monsters

is audiophile hyperbole, something we are very prone to... The Krell Evo 400 is even more powerful than the KSA-250 and in 4 ohms load will deliver at least 800 Watts of Krell power forever .. The only collapse I would think of would be that of the innards of the loudspeaker ...

back to the Ref 750 ...