Audio Research pre-amps?

Why the love affair with ARC for a preamp? The two I've had in my system, LS15 and SP16 were very lean. I could not believe how much bass was missing. A Manley preamp absolutely killed either ARC.

Rhljazz,

I use my sp16 mainly with Bel Canto ref1000 monoblock amps and my larger OHM Walsh speakers.

I would say the bass with combo is lean, but mean as well. :-)

Everything seems there and controlled and articulate and detailed. The absolute lowest octave might have a slight rolloff, but nothing of real consequence I would say.

Overall, by far, it is the best combo of quality and quantity of bass I have ever had, and no other reference systems I have heard in recent years make me feel lacking at all in regards to bass.

I have had some other amp/pre-amp combos in there that shook the rafters more easily, but that was mostly a quantity versus quality thing.

I'm sure there are other better pre-amps than the sp16 specifically, but it is hard to fault on its own terms I would say and at its price point.

I noticed a huge total change in the bass towards what I have today when the Class D amps came in. Much more open, dimensional, articulate yet powerful than anything I used prior.

The ARC/CLass D combo is most likely to come off as "bright" with some speakers that might come off that way overall normally, like the small Triangle Titus speakers I mentioned above. These are by far the most limited speakers I use with teh combo in terms of flat bass extension. Not much below 50 hz there. So things tend to come off as brighter in their case in egenral I would say compared to my larger and more extended OHMs or even my only slightly larger Dynaudio COntour 1.3mkII monitors, which do a good job down to 40 hz or so.

My experience in regards to bass extension with the ARC SP-16 is on point with Mapman's. It may well be possible to get more bass out of my system, but I am not missing it. The bass that is there is tight and under control, more so than with other amp/pre combos I have tried. For the record, I have not tried much and those that have been tried were lower grade than the ARC for sure.

However, I believe that my system's bass performance has more to do with the room gear interaction than the specific gear. I have a small space, to much bass would overwhelm the room. Another way to phrase it is I maybe satisfied now, but if I moved to a larger room I might not be.

Thanks guys...why ARC? I just like the simplicity and they are a local company to me, so any service would be easy...

I'll try playing a bit but my room doesn't allow for much change...