Anyone Compared ARC Ref 75SE and 75 With KT150

Thanks Oregonpapa. I have no doubt both 75SE and GS150 are very nice Amps. The difference between Gs150 and REF250 was very marginal and if i had high sensitive amps i would have definitely got 75SE instead. But my speakers shine with more power.

Oregonpapa---100 degrees? I miss those mild L.A. Summers ;-). I'm out in Palm Desert now, and we regularly get up to 115-117. My monthly electrical bill (which includes the operation of the house's air conditioner) this Summer has been $500! I sold my pair of mono power amps because each had eight output tubes each.

Good recommendation of the Harmonia Mundi sampler. What a great, great label, whose catalog contains fantastic music recorded in excellent sound. In the late 80's/early 90's they held Sunday parking lot sales at their Santa Monica office, where they were selling off the last of their American and French LP's, for $5 each!

Bdp24 ...

I had friends who used to live in Palm Desert. When visiting them in the summer it was a constant round trip... from the air conditioned house to the pool. Then from the pool to the air conditioned house. My friend was a lineman for Edison. Can you imagine climbing Edison poles all day in that heat to repair electrical lines? He said that one gets used to the heat once one's blood thins out. Jah ... right!

I remember those Harmonia Mundi parking lot sales in Santa Monica very well. My friend Warren and I used to score big there. Some of my favorites are the Kapsberger Lute sonatas with Paul O'Dette, the Handel Water Music ... and for fun, La folia.

I wish we could get those for 5 bucks again. I scored a bunch of used Harmonia Mundi CD's at a record store in Pasadena once for $2.98. I bought most of what the store had ... probably 25 or so. As I was scooping them up, I remember that I kept thinking ... who in their right mind would trade in their Harmonia Mundi collection? And of course, what store would be dumb enough sell them for $2.98?

Guys like us can really make out sometimes in used record stores that know nothing about classical and/or great old jazz. Sometimes the guy behind the counter pricing the new arrivals only knows rock, metal and rap .. and he/she looks at a Harmonia Mundi lute record, or an original Count Basie w/Sarah Vaughn record as crap. Hee, hee ... little do they know.

Harmonia Mundi was an interesting label. Like you said ... great sound and interesting music too. On many of their recordings, they used musicians who were expert at playing the ancient instruments, so what we heard was what Handel and Mozart heard. They recorded a lot in some of the old stone churches in Europe to get those great acoustics they had. You're a fan, so I know you're aware of how and where the label recorded, but for others reading this, give the Harmonia Mundi label a try. You won't be disappointed. The CDs are really, really good. The vinyl is great.

Right you are. HM has some of the best of the Period/Original Instrument/Historically Informed (choose your favorite term!) musicians, singers, and conductors in the field, Nicholas McGegan, Philippe Herreweghe, William Christie, and Rene Jacobs amongst them. A great label for Early and Baroque music. The Handel Water Music album is an excellent album to try first.

I took my 75 to have the SE upgrade, to my dealer today. I was able to compare a run in 75SE, with my 75, re tubed with KT150's, but otherwise unmodified. It was with a CD6 CD player, Ref 5SE and Wilson Sabrinas

I didn't have hours to make the comparison, but there was clearly a difference, which I would characterise as more of the same. The same deeper tighter base and better clarity and grip, just more of it. Ideally you would have had a REF 75 with KT120 tubes as well, but that is probably asking to much.

The Wilson Sabrina's really are very good indeed, by the way and I am not a Wilson fan. I have heard them with ARC and Constellation amps and they sounded great with both.