McIntosh C1000 tube pre vs. ARC Ref 3?

Well as other people said it makes no sense to discuss about the differences if you did not hear them next to each other. I had the Ref3 in my system and also had the Mac C2200. In my systen the C2200 sounded much better than the Ref3. So I guess if the C1000 is better than the Ref3 it will sound better also.

However in my friends place the Ref3 played much better. I all comes down to system matching and integration.

Peter

Hi Peter, could you give us some more detailed comparative findings? Unfortunately the terms 'better/worse' mean different things to different people. Please let us know how the two unit differed in several areas, and what made you prefer one unit over the other.

Fast forward a few years, the ARC Ref 40 leaves the C1000 in the dust.

Which one do you think is a better match in my system, the C500T combo or the ARC 3? My system is Esoteric K01 - preamp TBD (currently my friend's Jeff Rowland Capri) - Mcintosh MC 602 - Dynaudio C4.

Googleli, The ARC 3 is no doubt a top performer, but in YOUR system the Mcintosh c500 would be a natural match to the MC602 IMO.