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Amps I Like

Hi Everyone,
At the suggestion of an A'goner who suggested I list out things I like, as opposed to things I don't, I'm going to do that here.

Some caveats apply: This is my personal taste. The buyer should use their own tastes to determine what is good or not.

Also, I've not listened to gear long enough, or as much as I'd like. This list is not only short, but I'm going to put ++ symbols next to an amp to note how much time I've actually had to listen to them.

Sadly for me, I am not a professional reviewer, and I feel very guilty asking dealers to let me listen to gear I have no intention of buying. Please take this as one personal list of experiences, not my attempt to rate equipment for all time.

Best,
Erik
erik_squires
fsonicsmith's avatar
fsonicsmith
942 posts
 
I am an ARC owner. My reservation with VSi75 is the volume control. I have the same doubts/concerns with most integrated amps. Preamps are critical to overall sound and the vast majority of integrated amps are amplifiers with shortcuts taken in the preamp stage, if there even is a preamp stage. Many use buffered volume controls of mediocre quality. This approach saves space, money, and affords a relatively high degree of transparency at the expense of dynamics and soundstage. A simple way to test the truth of this would be to plug a Ref 6 into the amplifier input of the amp stage but guess what; ARC does not let you circumvent the volume control with preamp in inputs. 
riaa_award_collectors_on_facebook's avatar
riaa_award_collectors_on_facebook
981 posts
 
ARC amps keep evolving as do most brands over time. The new 160M and S models don't sound like the prior 250/150/75 series. So there isn't only 2 flavors to ARC "House Sound" over the past 20 years or whatever time frame anybody cares to reference. One needs to be more specific about what models they are referring to. There's lots of love out there for the new direction ARC has gone on....although the prices make them unobtainable for many...so perhaps many haven't heard them yet.
erik_squires OP
16,039 posts
 
Interesting. It sounds like you prefer modern ARC to historical ARC, and that you think ARC house sound (if I can call it that) has changed for the better over a number of years but to your ears is not (at least the integrated amp) quite on par with Ayre. 


I like to leave a lot of room for personal preference, so that's why I describe it that way. I would say I personally prefer Ayre, but is it a "better" amp?? I have a tough time saying it like that.


I say ‘interesting’ because if anything some of what I’ve read on this site seems to lament ARCs direction and pine for the good old days there. But maybe that’s more as to service and old favorite employee departures than to sound quality.

In the late 80s, 90s I was much more of a Conrad Johnson fanboy and could simply NOT understand the ARC fans. So this hasn't changed for me at all, what's changed, IMHO is the direction of the gear. I think even the modern ARCs can be improved with better caps, they love those red Wimas.  But in any event, this is all VERY personal, and not a true measure of quality or engineering acumen.
mtdining's avatar
mtdining
131 posts
 
I'm good with my Luxman Class A, but I'm curious. Has anyone ever heard a class D amp that did not sound thin, digital and without soul?
erik_squires OP
16,039 posts
 
Has anyone ever heard a class D amp that did not sound thin, digital and without soul?



I answer your question in my original posting. There was nothing that wrong with the Class D amps I listened to. As I've written, they sounded exactly like the Parasound A21. For this and many other reasons, I find this characterization of Class D no longer valid. You have to take each amp and listen.

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