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Seriously? Why Buy ARC Ref 6SE? seems Benchmark LA4 is a better choice.

And costs only a few grand vs soooo much more for a ref 6se preamp.  Benchmark LA4 Does HT bypass very easily.  
I am at a profound loss.  what the heck is going on inside the Ref 6se box.  What the heck does it all do? 
6se is very pretty but Benchmark LA4 also looks nice. And the McIntosh c1100 preamp is also very pretty.  Frankly, what justifies buying a preamp at such a high price?? It is supposed to be a neutral pass thru of a signal.
emergingsoul
yyzsantabarbara
4,941 posts
 
@aewarren 

If you seriously think the Benchmark preamp is "the better choice", then that's what you should buy. I envy your lack of discrimination.
A statement like that makes me think that you have never heard the LA4. I have heard some very expensive ARC gear,  I guess that must mean it was some of their better gear. 

Easy question in this discussion,  do want you preamp to add sound or no sound? That is the "discrimination" decision.
aewarren
673 posts
 
@yyzsantaabarbara
I thought we were talking about the Op's choice in preamps not mine. I already have a preamp that I am more than happy with. If you find the Benchmark to your liking, then go for it. For my system and my tastes, I prefer the ARC. For anyone who finds one equal to the other, I envy you because you can be satisfied while spending less money. 
yyzsantabarbara
4,941 posts
 
@aewarren Yes we were talking about the OP's choice in preamp, not yours. I never asked what preamp you use or really care. I am curious as to how you can make a judgment on the LA4. Have you heard it? 

Next month The Absolute Sound will do a review of the LA4 + DAC3B. You know a mag that speaks to sophisticated audiophiles. You may find it interesting. I already know what it will say.
aewarren
673 posts
 
@yyetc In your barn a dead horse is still not safe from a beating. How could I, or anyone else, prefer one audio product over another if we had not auditioned them both? "For my system and tastes, I prefer the ARC." Again, if YOU prefer something else, then that's what YOU should buy. I take magazine reviews with a grain of salt and prefer to trust my own ears, after all the reviewers have their own tastes and their own rooms. Enjoy. 
twoleftears's avatar
twoleftears
5,318 posts
 
Anyone read the Jason Serinus review of the ARC preamp in Stereophile?  The Benchmark got a brief comparative listen and, err, didn't come off too well.

(Full disclosure: of Stereophile's reviewers, JS gets on my nerves a great deal more than anyone else.)
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