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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.
pubul57
pubul57 OP
3,712 posts
 
Cwlondon, love the tape deck.
springbok10
711 posts
 
I cant conceive of an integrated amp driving my Merlins better than the Jadis, which is why I asked Trelja. 6 month wait for the Ars Sonum? I'm a bad waiter.......
pubul57 OP
3,712 posts
 
I think the wait would be longer than that. I've not heard the Jadis with the Merlins, I'm sure they are superb (they sounded great at the NYC audio show with Proac, I think), but what might (speculation) make the Ars and even better match is the fact that on a parts and wiring level it is designed with the Merlins in mind, matching what you would find in the the Merlin's x-overs. I'm not sure what the impact of that might be, but the SE version of the ARS was definitely influenced by Bobby's input with ARS to optimize performance with the Merlins. I'm not sure there is a way around the wait though, the designer makes'em, no assembly line here; but there is some charm to the idea of that - as long as you have something to listen to while you wait.
trelja
3,223 posts
 
Denis, I think the ARS Sonum has a lot of the things that make the Jadis so likable to us.

My ears tell me that the amp slots between the Jadis Orchestra Reference and the DA30. I would probably choose it over a JOR, but a DA30 against it. The DA50S being another step up. Of course, the DA30/DA50S cost a lot more. None of them can compete with the DA60 and DA88S, where you gain the ability to really get things going because of their extra power.

In my opinion, the ARS Sonum is running a better tube complement, with a lot more thought and care going into the choices than any of the Jadis models. But like just about everything in the market, missing out on the trump card of the better Jadis products - those transformers, and that almost impossible to find dancing on the rose colored glasses side of reality. A very sweet sound, though more warm and lush than the Jadis offerings. For me, it certainly represents an alternative product to consider. All in all, highly recommended!

DISCLAIMER - I am the US/Canada distributor for Opera Audio/Consonance products. Factor that into the above opinion, if applicable.
pubul57 OP
3,712 posts
 
Trelja, have you tried any tube swapping with the ARS. I'm thinking of the little tubes (6922 and 5814/12au7s), I will leave the EL34s alone.
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