audio research REF 150

@Pinkus -- is your reference (pun) to the Ref 180 a tongue in cheek quip, or is there a Ref 180 prototype out there? If true, I can't wait for it to come out for all the reasons Taters says.

Pinkus is touting the much believed (but I believe undeserved) criticsm of Audio Research of churning product much quicker than the competition and that the company is marketing driven rather than customer-driven. If one analyzes objectively the product cycles at ARC, you will see new product intros in 3-5 year cycles (with an average of 4 years in between models). I do not think this is much different than most of the competition. Furthermore, having been an ARC owner now for some 7 years or so, I believe that each move up within the product line and from an older model to a newer model has yielded performance improvements consistent with the price differentials. But there will always be haters and that's fine, just not very useful in terms of their contributions to threads such as this where folks are trying to make informed purchase decisions.

I'm with Cmalak. Pinkus must have an ax to grind as his comment contributed nothing to the op's question. Furthermore, the improvements in the last few iterations of ARC ref amps and preamps have been quite significant and all for the better.

@Cmalak - interesting point. In some ways, ARC seems a company that is clinging to its mom-and-pop identity even though its an international company.

Whatever, though. They make beautiful products that know how to make music be as lifelike as possible

Finally took the leap. Picked up a preowned Ref 150 a few days ago. I'll spare the Forum with the usual audiophile-babble in describing the Ref 150. Suffice to say that IMO the comment in ARC's sales literature that the Ref 150 "dominates" one's speakers is credible. As good as my VS-115 is, and it IS a fine amp, the Ref 150 IS in another league. As Tony the Tiger used to say, "it's great!!!"

Bruce

P.S. Spoke to Kal about a Ref 150 tech issue yesterday. During the call we touched on how the Ref 150 compared to the VS-115. I commented that while the Ref 150 is a great amp, the VS-115 is also a fine amp at its price point. Kal agreed and mentioned that ARC crammed as much technology and high grade parts as the VS-115 chassis could hold. That's an fyi for anyone looking to break into trying a high-end tube amp at a relatively affordable price. bif

Congrats Bruce.
Good luck with the Ref 150-----a real keeper.

Randy