thougts on arc ref1--please advise

thanks for the comebak...really appreciate it.

on a limited budget so a ref3 is more than i can afford...i just moved from a batvk30 and would like to get back to an arc....

i have heard really good things about a ls-5....since the ls-5 is older... would it require a cap replacement/upgrade ?

Jafox:
Can you give some insight as why "the BAT 31SE or Aesthetix Calypso just to name two far exceed the Ref1 and LS5"?
My yardstick is information retrieval relative to volume.
That is, how good does the unit sound at low to moderate levels.
Of course, accuracy at loud levels is important too, but this is easier to find, IMO.
Any info is welcome.

Mikesinger: The LS5 II came out just a couple years before the Ref1 and the LS5 III about a year after the Ref1. This was all in the 1994-1997 time. All these models are pretty much in the same boat if there is a need/desire to change old capacitors or consider upgrading to any number of newer designs like Infinicaps, Auricaps, Black Gate, V-Cap, etc.

And rather than pay so much to have ARC upgrade such a unit, you can buy these yourself and do it. ARC circuit boards are very accessible for such work. And if you're not comfortable to do this, there are plenty of mod shops like Steve Huntley of Great Northern Sound.

Dweller - I think I have bored the A'gon world with my multitude of posts on the LS5, 31SE, Aesthetix preamps, etc., so please search the archives for my comments here. If you have specific questions that are not addressed in the archives, hopefully I can give you pinpoint answers as to why I went from the SP-10 -> LS5 -> 31SE -> Callisto Sig. Just send me an email.

John

I owned the LS25 MK1 and enjoyed it. Bought a REF1-hated it. Put brand new tubes in it-still hated it. Now own a Calypso and loving it. But between the two, LS25 all the way.

Mike, I know of an ARC dealer who refused to give up his/her own LS5 Mk. 3 for a long time. . . past the Ref 1, past the Ref 2 Mk. 1. And only sold it when the Ref 2 Mk. 2 became available, and even then the difference was apparently not earthshattering. I havent heard the LS5 myself, yet everything seems to point to the fact that you would be highly unlikely to become unhappy with an LS5. Elsewhere on Audiogone there is a thread that discusses the sonic differences between Mk. 1, 2, and 3 of this model. Only caveat: LS5 is PURELY a symmetric balanced implementation. . . No RCA, none, zippo, nema, niente, nie, Keinen, aucun!