Advise on purchasing an ARC DS225 to match my LS17se


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Hi Audiogon community,

 

I am considering purchasing an ARC DS225 and would like some feedback or advise from members before I commit to the purchase.

 

My current system consists of the following:

 

ARC LS17se preamp

LSA-1 Statement monitors

Acoustic Zen Double Shotgun bi-wire speaker cables

ARC CD1 player

A well configured Windows 10 computer with JRiver as the audio player

PS Audio PWD 2

Cardas Clear USB cables

PS Audio Dectec power conditioner with a Shunyata King Cobra CX power cord

Components powered with Cardas Clear and Golden Reference power cords

Cardas Clear Reflection and Golden Reference interconnects

and an Emerald Physics 100.2se amp

 

My thoughts are to replace the Emerald Physics amp by purchasing the ARC DS225 from Paragon Audio at a very good price. The amp would match my LS17 which I am very pleased with. My alternative is to purchase an ARC Ref75 amp which used would cost more than twice as much. I am not much interested in a large heavy solid state amp that creates a lot of heat. The Ref75 does not generate that much heat and would no doubt sound better than the DS; nevertheless, I would prefer the DS if the sonics were very good.

 

I know there are a few discussions on Audiogon concerning the CD225 but I am particularly interested in owners who can offer advise due to having a similar DS system or owners of LS17 / Ref75 systems.


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