Audio Research REF 80S Reviews/Comparisons

Well, I am joining this club, meaning I am going from a Ref 150 SE to a Ref 80S. Mine was ordered today and will be here in five days or so and then I will of course need to let it settle in before I can comment. My pre is a Ref 6. I am the original owner of the Ref 6 and Ref 150 SE. My dealer informs me that I should hear a significant improvement. We shall see but the truth is that I don't need the 160 watts @ 8 ohms and 70 is more than sufficient. I have an eight watt SET amp (Ampsandsound Nautilus) that provides all the power I need. So for starters that means four less very expensive KT150's to worry about ($275/each from ARC to meet ARC's stringent testing and performance criteria for these very irregular tubes!). 

Something else that was not mentioned above but that is very important to me-this is the first modern ARC circuit design to fuse the output tubes. In all of my previous ARC amps dating back to a VS110 the output tubes were not only prone to arc-ing/blowing but when they did they would take out a paired resistor meant to protect the remainder of the circuit. You either had to be handy with a soldering iron or be prepared to take it in for service. 

So between the hopefully better sound and all these new features paired with the sexy looks.....I had to go for it. My Ref 150 SE needs some minor service and then it is going up for sale. 

@fsonicsmith

Congratulations. I will be interested in hearing your impressions… after the 1,000 hours mark.

I auditioned in home, a brand new ARC REF160s… then bought one… breaking it in… then because of a weak meter, I got another new one… which I broke in. I was really surprised that sound really continued to improve through 1,000 hours… although most was by 600. Then my dealer lent me a borrow a pair of REF 160m mono-blocks for the last couple months. It has been fun. Same power and design.. exactly… but separated in two chassis. I run them in triode mode (70wpc)… the power difference makes a tiny difference. But the sound is a bit more natural in triode mode. After lots of time. The soundstage is wider and deeper with the mono blocks. My conclusion is that if I had a choice of what to buy right now… I would pay the extra $12K for the mono blocks… but would not now pay to upgrade (perhaps because of the house remodel last year). I will wait for maybe the Ref 160SE (mono blocks)… or the next higher redesign… ? Ref320?.

@fsonicsmith

Congratulations! I have no doubt that the Audio Research REF 80S is going to please you greatly and provide splendid music listening joy for many years. Glad to know that ARC has replaced the protective resistors with fuses in their current generation amplifiers. Smart move and long overdue in my opinion. +1 for the auto bias implementation as well.

Charles

Wonderful !,,,, enjoy the music

Wow, thank you ghdprentice

charles1dad (always love your posts) and

tomic601

As I said above I will report back. My AD who has been an ARC dealer for many years pitched the new ARC trade-in program for the Ref 6. Instead of paying $3K to have one’s existing Ref 6 upgraded to an SE the offer is to send back the Ref 6 and get a brand new SE for $4.5K. My reply was "why would anyone want to pay an extra $1,500 for basically the same thing". He laughed and said, "yeah, well, the program was a response to the fact that they are badly backed up doing repairs and don’t have the time to do upgrades to existing units". ARC’s service department told me it would be 4-5 months before they will even provide me with a return authorization to send in my Ref 150SE for repairs! So while I appreciate the congratulations my decision to buy the Ref 80S was somewhat under "distress" (that being a reference to the definition of a true arms length sale as one in which the seller is under no particular compulsion to sell and the buyer is under no particular compulsion or need to buy). For two thirds of the price I could have purchased a pair of Manley Snapper monoblocs which are also true balanced and in light of my love for my Steelhead and love for how responsive Manley Labs is to any question or request for help I was very close to buying the Snappers instead. What I love about Manley is that their products are not only tried and true but then stay constant. The Snapper remains virtually unchanged for almost 20 years! Obviously the Manley approach is in stark contrast to the ARC approach, the latter of which reminds me of Apple phones.