Audio Research REF 80S Reviews/Comparisons

@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.

Well, congrats Mr. Smith!

That is a bit of a frustrating situation with the long service delay to push you there but with the other ARC gear I suspect the REF 80S was in your future no matter what : )

Is the 150SE operable for you to compare or will you only be going off memory?  I truly do hope you have zero doubts and it is a slam dunk upgrade.  

The features and aesthetics are fantastic so looking at that amp alone will bring much joy.

I am happier than I have ever been with the 75SE/5SE/2SE and feel quite fortunate to be here.  For the first time in my life there is nothing about my system that shows fault.  I of course want to upgrade other things for the fun of it but am trying to tame that beast.

Looking forward to hearing your impressions right out of the box and as times goes on.  Enjoy!!!!