Anyone heard the new ARC LS28 SE?

I own a Reference 6SE and have listened to the LS28SE. A friend of mine bought one as well, so I have listened to them in more than one setting.

It is an outstanding preamp and very similar to the Reference 6SE. Same sound qualities, detailed, musical, great midrange bloom. The Reference is just a little bit better, bit lower noise floor, a bit more dynamic… cut from the same cloth. It is a question of finances. If you have a choice and can afford the extra money, get the REF 6SE or REF 10. If not, the LS28SE is outstanding.

The LS28SE throws a great wide and deep soundstage. But I have not had one in my system to directly compare with the REF. I detected no hardening of the high frequencies in the LS. 

@soix room is like a rectangle, about 18x11 with a dormered area where I sit on one of the long walls, system sits opposite on the other long wall. 9 foot ceilings, it’s an upstairs office area. Amp is the Sugden FBA-800 Sapphire amp, pure Class A. Speakers are a transmission line type (JM Reynaud) so placement from the wall isn’t as important but they sit about 3 feet off the walls. I also have the AGD preamp here, which is warmer less transparent but really wonderful otherwise. Soundstage depth on the AGD is actually much better, and there have been points where I am hearing things behind my head with that preamp. The ARC has yet to do that and I can’t see it doing that, doesn’t have a holographic character, more of a transparent neutral character.

@ghdprentice thanks for the validation because I can’t afford the Ref6SE right now so this seems like it might be a good landing point. I have a couple others I want to hear as well, but this preamp ranks up there at the top for sure...Might be lacking a smidge of emotion, but I need to run more time and tracks through it. It’s a transparency king for sure.

@jc51373 Very interesting indeed.  I’ve read lots of superlatives about AGD amps and hold them in the highest regard but haven’t heard anything about their preamp, so consider my interest piqued.  Thanks for sharing. 

AGD is wonderful gear...I have the Audions coming tomorrow to listen to. I will report in one of those threads. 

RE: this preamp, LS28se, I am thinking any limitations I am hearing could be related to break in since it has less than 100 hours on it. Seems to be some bandwidth limitation on some tracks. Overall I can hear through this but I think I may be hearing burn in limitations. If thats the case and this thing sweetens a little it's a force to be wreckoned with. 

The preamplifier will need about 250-300hrs. At 100hrs it isn’t fully cooked yet.

Also, in my experience, the ARC preamps sound their best with XLR cables.