2. amps-preamps
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Unhappy with tubes so which transistor amp?

Hi guys,

About 6 months back I bought an ARC Ref110. For one reason or another I am still running on the demo unit which has failed 2 times during this time. The first time it was one of the output tubes which was blown. This time it simply won't power up. I have checked the fuse and it looks ok but the amp shows no sign of life.

Based on my experience so far I am thinking that I will sell my unit brand new when I get it next week. I don't want to deal with a piece which breaks down often as for me reliability is one of the key criteria as I am totally zero on the technical side of electronics (changing the fuse may be as technical as it gets for me). So even stuff like biasing, changing tubes after x amount of hours looks like a lot of work to me.

Now after this background I come to the million dollar question. Since replacing the amp with my old Aragons I have noticed that I have lost significantly in 3 areas.

1) Soundstage does not seem to be as big as with the Ref110 specially in regard to sound coming from outside the speaker thing, which btw is gives you an awesome feeling if you are listening with the lights switched off

2) I have lost the mid range magic. This is painfully apparent in vocals as they have lost their sense of realism.

3) Digital glare and harshness has also crept back in the system.

Now I am looking for an amp that is SS but can give me back what I have lost although I am not sure about number 2 as everyone says you can't do it with SS. Basically I am looking for an SS amp with huge soundstage, beautiful and natural (not "smooth" as in muffled) midrange and san any digital glare. Price should be ~10K new or used.

The related equipment is ARC CD3 MKII, ARC LS26 and Peak Consult Empress loud speakers.

Any help or ideas is welcome.

Thanks

P.S. I posted the same on speaker forum by mistake. Mods please feel free to delete the other thread. Thanks
rayden1972
ngjockey
1,042 posts
 
Both the Pass and the Plinius will be more laid-back than the ARC, like sitting further back in the audience or as though the stage were behind the speakers. The Plinius is good with passive pre's while the Pass is not, in SE. The Pass is fully balanced while the Plinius SA series is only balanced when bridged. Both are best warmed up but the Plinius does have that A-A/B switch to reduce heat.

I've only heard the Lamm in another system but it was very nice. Macs have many good qualities but can be soft with some speakers.

You should consider the old Rowlands, like the Model 6,8 and 9, before they went digital but wouldn't a Euro maker like YBA, MBL, ElectroCompaniet or GamuT make more sense for you?
bpwalsh
1,201 posts
 
Nsgarch wrote:
You are not unhappy with tube amps, you are unhappy with the ARC tube amp. You love the sound but don't want maintenance/reliability headaches.
I tend to agree. Don't give up on tubes just yet. Peak Consult speakers work well with tubes.
czbbcl's avatar
czbbcl
1,752 posts
 
I would try Conrad Johnson I have a premier 350 and it is excellent. As far as tube amp reliability goes I have had a couple of cj tube amps with no problems.

Chuck
david12
1,454 posts
 
Lovely system, I heard the Peak consult speakers before I bought mu Acoustic Zen speakers,they were too costly for me. You have some great suggestions, particularly the Pass XA series. They were designed to give the tube like magic of the Aleph amps with the greater power of the X series. I tend to like a tube pre with SS power amps, so a hybrid might be a good choice. The Canadian DK or LSA as it is now, hybrid integrated amps sounded very good and reasonably priced, when I heard it at a recent show. 150watts should be more than enough.
rayden1972 OP
22 posts
 
Thanks guys. More information leads to more confusion. Ngjockey writes:

[QOUTE] Both the Pass and the Plinius will be more laid-back than the ARC, like sitting further back in the audience or as though the stage were behind the speakers. [/QOUTE]

I don't like the sound of it. I don't want to give up the feeling of being a part of the performance. I just love the sound stage of my 110 and don't want to give up anything there. Also I would like stay balanced through out the chain so I guess Plinius goes out as well.

Funny thing about me is that I have never had any European electronics and American speakers in my setup so I don't want to change this now. The American speakers I have heard (Revels and Wilsons) were too forward for my taste and European electronics too laid back :-)

As its been pointed out countless times system synergy is more important than the individual components so maybe the best mating between an ARC pre and Empress can only be provided by an ARC tube amp :-(

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