Audio Research Ref 6 SE

Ref 6 versus Ref 6SE

ARC finally got around to getting me into the Ref 6SE.  I have over 250 hours on the unit as of the date of this posting.  Lots of change during the first 100 hours.   

My impressions: big improvement in SQ.  Imaging much better; more detail, ... hearing things in the source material that I never heard before; bass must tighter.

IMO, the upgrade is worth the price and aggravation of shipping stuff back and forth to/from ARC. 

I just recently purchased a REF 6 at an excellent price.  ARC does not come out with a new product every year, obviously, and every company tries to make improvements.  Otherwise, a company would make one product, and then never improve on it.  It would be the same 20 years ago and 20 years from now.  I don't know of any company that does that. Plus, there are always tweaks that one can do to bring an older model closer to a newer model, such as tube rolling, etc.  As for the REF 6 vs 6SE, the retail difference is $3K.  The upgrade cost is 3K.  So if you are driven to have the latest and greatest, you need only pay the differential.  That seems fair to me.  Plus, ARC products seem to retain Avery good price on the used market if you purchased used, and the demand is always there because it is a quality product.  So bottom line: just because ARC comes out with a new and improved design every 4 years or so, does not make it a bad company.

According to my retailer the upgrade cost has now risen to $3,500 plus shipping or you can trade in the Ref 6 and pay $6,500 plus shipping for a brand new Ref 6 SE or you can try selling your old unit and pay $18,000 with shipping included for a brand new 6 SE. No judging here, just an update as to price. 

Here's my report from two days of testing with four people, which includes myself: My initial impressions were that the Ref6SE was more laid back sounding and slightly smoother especially in the mids versus the Ref6, which had a more forward presentation in the mids.  However this was comparing 6n6p tubes in the Ref6 against the factory tubes in the Ref6SE.  

I tested with Person A on the next day, and he liked the Ref6SE better in every test and had no idea which unit was which.  He does not have an audiophile background, but played several instruments and was in the radio industry for quite some time.  He described the Ref6SE as "clearer."  

Person B and C had the same thoughts as each other and were also tested blind on the same day as Person A but in a separate session.  They thought the Ref6 with the factory tubes sounded the best.  Unlike Person A, Persons B and C thought the Ref6 was more transparent, but that the Ref6SE had more density.  They thought the Ref6SE sounded more tubey.  Interestingly, they suspected that they liked the Ref6SE better with the 6n6p tubes and the Ref6 better with the factory tubes, which I ended up testing after they left, but couldn't really notice any differences probably due to fatigue at that point.

Ultimately, we all agreed that the upgrade was not worth the cost, and I was not even sure if I could distinguish between the two if blind-tested once we used the same tubes.  Ideally, I like to test blind and sighted with short A/B comparisons and by listening to full albums and on multiple days and over a long period, but since this was a dealer demo, unfortunately, we didn't have the luxury of doing that.  I will also say that I know that components can yield different results in different systems but just wanted to provide my experience with the two preamps in my system as a data point for others.