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Replacement Amp For Audio Research Classic 60

Very pleased with my System which is Turntable based and consists of the following;

Audio Research Classic 60 Tube Amp.

Audio Research LS5 MKIII Pre-Amp.

Herron VTPH-2A Phono Stage.

ProAc Response 2.5 Speakers.

I have owned the ARC Classic 60 Tube Amp since New it has been that long. Scott Frankland formerly of MFA has changed all of the important Caps.

Fearful due to Age that I need to research a Replacement Amp in either Solid State or Tube form but here is the catch; It needs to fit in a Rack so the Dimensions should be 19" Wide Max X 8" (Give or take High) X 16" Deep.

ARC LS5 MKIII has Balanced Outputs but I can go to Single Ended since there is a Switch on the MK III for Balanced or SE. I am running it SE at present to the ARC Classic 60.

My musical tastes are Classic Rock and Folk with some Classical.

In my research the one that has caught my eye is the Pass XA25 but I am truly not sure how this would be with the ProAc’s. I would hate to buy this Blind. I also liked the Luxman 509X very much but I really do not need an Integrated. These two Models are mentioned to give an idea of Price Range also.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

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djohn
atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
11,928 posts
 
The ProAc 2.5s work very nicely with our M-60s (which have balanced inputs). So there are lots of tube amps that would do the job.

FWIW that's pretty cramped to fit any amp tube or solid state in a rack space like that without a fan.
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bdp24's avatar
bdp24
9,892 posts
 
ARC owners love their Ref 75SE. Something to consider is that the output tubes in a power amp put out a LOT of heat, and the more space you allow above the amp will be rewarded with longer life for the amp in general. 8" may not be enough.
djohn OP
64 posts
 

@ricwa, appreciated your comments from someone that has the Pass XA25 and especially in using them with the Harbeth’s.

@georgehifi , I looked up the ARC D115 MKII and it appears to be a nightmare to Bias so I need to pass on this recommendation but it was appreciated.

@atmasphere , I have looked at your offerings already and I was really hoping for a one box solution. You raised a good point that I failed to mention. Amp is residing in a Two Bay Billy Bags Rack that is open on all sides plus the Classic 60 has two fans on the rear which is very handy.

@dweller , I have seen the BAT VK-255SE previously and I like it very much.

@bdp24 , ARC Ref 75SE has been on my Radar for close to 1 Year so this was a nice recommendation. I have also looked at the Ref 110.


almarg's avatar
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almarg
9,670 posts
 
In my research the one that has caught my eye is the Pass XA25 but I am truly not sure how this would be with the ProAc’s. I would hate to buy this Blind.

As you may be aware, Reno Hi-Fi, which is apparently the leading Pass dealership in the USA and is wonderful to deal with, offers 14 day return privileges less only two-way shipping. Although they can’t sell a new unit (as opposed to a demo model or trade-in) to anyone who is within 100 miles of a different authorized Pass dealer.

I purchased an XA25 from them last year. It replaced the very well regarded 300B-based VAC Renaissance 70/70 MkIII I had been using for several years, and I haven’t regretted the change for one instant. Among the various published reviews of the XA25, I found that the one by Terry London (A’gon member Teajay), at hometheaterreview.com, characterized its sonics especially well.

That said, John Atkinson’s measurements of your speaker show it to have a sensitivity of only 83 db/2.83 volts/1 meter, which for its 8 ohm nominal impedance means 83 db/1 watt/1 meter. JA also measured the XA25 as being capable of providing 80 watts into 8 ohms (presumably after leaving class A at a significantly lower power level, given its 25 watt/8 ohm published rating). And I wouldn’t count on it quite being able to deliver 80 watts into your speakers, because their impedance is well above 8 ohms at a lot of frequencies.

The bottom line is that I would expect the amp to reach its limits when producing SPLs in the mid-90s at a listening distance of say 10 feet in a medium sized room. That will be more than enough for many listeners with most or all of their recordings. But if your listening includes recordings having particularly wide dynamic range, such as many well engineered minimally compressed classical symphonic recordings, I would have my doubts. I listen to a lot of those kinds of recordings, btw, but my speakers (Daedalus Ulysses) are rated at 97.5 db/1 watt/1 meter, and have particularly benign impedance characteristics. The combination has no trouble cleanly producing 105 db dynamic peaks at my 12 foot listening distance.

Good luck, however you decide to proceed.

Regards,

-- Al

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