One can always use another Mahler 2. I will check it out. I'm afraid the arc 160m is something I can't do. Maybe someday...
For classical music lovers best amp for large orchestral forces?
I recently upgraded my pre to an arc ref 6se. Currently using pas xa25. It's a very good amp but I'm noticing a fair amount of compression when playing large symphonic works. My speakers are Dalis and they are excellent as is the arc.
For smaller forces, chamber, piano and voices the system works beautifully. But if I'm looking for more transparency and a deeper sound stage for symphonies I find sometimes a boxy cramped sound. Looking to spend around 8k or less either tube or solid state. There have been discussions about the xa25 and what's better but they fill up immediately with tangents of philosophical and technical discussions of how one hears. I'm looking for as many possibilities of actual units that I can read about and possibly hear.
Thanks for your ideas.
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- 67 posts total
Lots of advise. I would add a couple subs. That takes a load off speaker and amp. Amps from Coda and Pass will do the job. I go by how heavy they are but Class D broke that rule. The tube recommendations are good also. I have an Xa25 with a passive preamp from Khozmo playing Crites speakers, think Klipsch Cornwall. With two subs I have yet to play anything that sounds compressed. Including massive hits on a tympani or an electronic bass. Good luck. |
@ghdprentice Good to know you upgrade from 160s to 160m now. is that big improvement? |
I am a proud and delighted owner of AGD Audions. In 50 years at this, I have never heard anything like them. A clear window into the music. Classical is amazing. So much air and separation between instruments. So sweet violins. And then we now have the Atma-Sphere Class D monos. I don’t know for sure but believe them at the level of the AGD or beyond. Both AGD and Atma are 100 watts into 8 ohms and 200 into 4. ARC amps have been developing their designs for many decades and their current amps are also superb. But much more pricey and, perhaps, more “traditional”. |
Well, actually I have both the REF 160s and the REF 160m monoblocks. To be honest, I don’t own them… but have had them for over four months. My dealer lent them to me… well, until he needs them. I have been listening to them for so long at this point I just state the status quo. Both are shown in some of my system photos.
The difference. The monoblocks have a slightly greater air and maybe a very small amount of impact. However, this is a very early production model of the REF 160m with low hours, and it is likely ARC tweaked them a bit to improve the sound in the ensuing production runs, so if you bought a new pair they might sound a bit better. The REF 160s actually looks cooler. Until the REF 320m was released I said, if I was buying the 160 again I probably would have gotten the monos. For one reason with mono blocks you can locate them right next to your speakers and use a really short speaker cable… which gives you a big performance gain. If getting an ARC REF 160 is a stretch for you… then definitely get the REF 160s and I would not feel like I was missing anything. I tried Cardas Clear beyond vs Audio Quest Hurricane power cords… and the difference the Hurricane brought to my 160s was notably greater than the difference in the sound between the 160s and the monoblocks. Also, I brought the 160s performance a bit higher by adding isolation under it. Also on speaker impedance. My speaker impedance is 4 ohms… no trouble driving my speakers to crazy high volumes in triode mode… 70wpc. |
- 67 posts total