In my opinion, the ARS Sonum provides as much musical pleasure as any of the separates I have owned (currently Joule pre and CAT amp). Much is said about the importance of the amp/speaker compatability; the quality must in good part be a perfect marriage of the Ars capabilities with the Merlin's needs; they are optimized for each other and it sure sounds like it. I'm sure the CAT would handle a much larger array of speakers with more difficult loads and demands, part of the genius of the CAT amp is ability to be a beast (100 Watt, Class A, triode)with purity and delicacy. Overall I imagine the CAT is a better amp, one of the very best -- but if you own Merlins or other speakers that have benign impedance, relatively efficient, and don't need much damping - the ARS are a must listen. They are stupidgood because you look at them, they are "only" $4,000 and you have doubts, it can't be that good -- well it is. You can't go wrong with the combination. You may have to wait a while to get one, but it is worth the wait.
Stupidgood: Ars Sonum
There are lots of "terms of art" used by audiophools to describe sound and equipment. I propose a new one - stupidgood - a piece of equipment that blows you away, as good as it gets (more or less), and the price or the looks of it makes you incredulous as to how good the equipment is. Of course, I did not come with the term; that would by Bobby P. (Mr. von Merlin) describing the Ars Sonum integrated amplifier. I've had separates from ARC, Joule, LAMM, and CAT, and I can tell you, the Ars Sonum is stupidgood driving Merlin VSM-MXes, which can driven very easily be this little 30 watt gem.
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- 59 posts total
- 59 posts total