Has anyone heard the Ref 3?

I own a Ref 3 and IMO it is simply the best preamp I have ever owned. Prior to that I owned a Ref 2 MK ll which I thought also to be excellent but when put up against the Ref 3 it sounded broken.

Those who pontificate about preamps rate the Ref3 as one of the top 3 in the market today--the other two being VTL 7.5 and the CJ ACT 2. Bear in mind that ARC recently did a rolling line change on the Ref 3 by adding 4 bypass caps and switching from the 6L6 tube back to a 6550C

Here is a look at the Ref 3 in my room

http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?vaslt&1049587927&read&3&4&

http://homepage.mac.com/imacdoyou86/PhotoAlbum52.html

I ordered mine yesterday. Stay tuned...

>>Oneobgyn writes .....Those who pontificate about preamps rate the Ref3 as one of the top 3 in the market today--the other two being VTL 7.5 and the CJ ACT 2.

Obviously you haven't heard the Audio Note Kondo M-77, Supratek Grange, Lamm L2, and Aesthetix Callisto or you wouldn't have made such an uninformed post. I'd be more careful about posting absolutes; they are seldom correct.

Judy426: "Obviously" you like to put your foot in your mouth. The "uninformed" pot is definitely calling the kettle black. Before posting such ignorance, why don't you ask Oneobgyn about his experiences with the other preamps to which you make reference.

Actually I have heard them. I had the Lamm L2 in my system and even though I own Lamm L 2.1's and figured that there would be an obvious synergy the preamp was cold, dark and sterile. The Ref 3 eclipsed it by miles.

One of my closest friends owns the Callisto in an all Aesthetix system with dual power supplies and a Sirius 3 TT. It is excellent but he told me that he prefers my Ref 3 better.

I briefly heard the Kondo and felt it to be only just OK.

As far as posting absolutes, those comments came not from me but rather from an owner of an extremely high end manufacturer who has had opportunity to listen to every SOTA preamp out there.

I will reiterate, that until you hear the Ref 3, you haven't done your system justice. I must admit that I was dying to own the L2 and it couldn't come close to the Ref3 in my system. Bear in mind it is all about flavors. I prefer the sonic signature of the Ref3. I also owned a Ref 2 Mk ll as well and thoroughly enjoyed it as well.