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Stupidgood: Ars Sonum

There are lots of "terms of art" used by audiophools to describe sound and equipment. I propose a new one - stupidgood - a piece of equipment that blows you away, as good as it gets (more or less), and the price or the looks of it makes you incredulous as to how good the equipment is. Of course, I did not come with the term; that would by Bobby P. (Mr. von Merlin) describing the Ars Sonum integrated amplifier. I've had separates from ARC, Joule, LAMM, and CAT, and I can tell you, the Ars Sonum is stupidgood driving Merlin VSM-MXes, which can driven very easily be this little 30 watt gem.
pubul57
tabl10s's avatar
tabl10s
1,083 posts
 
'57
How does the Ars compare to your previous amps/preamps and when will you upgrade to the AA tube dac?
pubul57 OP
3,712 posts
 
In my opinion, the ARS Sonum provides as much musical pleasure as any of the separates I have owned (currently Joule pre and CAT amp). Much is said about the importance of the amp/speaker compatability; the quality must in good part be a perfect marriage of the Ars capabilities with the Merlin's needs; they are optimized for each other and it sure sounds like it. I'm sure the CAT would handle a much larger array of speakers with more difficult loads and demands, part of the genius of the CAT amp is ability to be a beast (100 Watt, Class A, triode)with purity and delicacy. Overall I imagine the CAT is a better amp, one of the very best -- but if you own Merlins or other speakers that have benign impedance, relatively efficient, and don't need much damping - the ARS are a must listen. They are stupidgood because you look at them, they are "only" $4,000 and you have doubts, it can't be that good -- well it is. You can't go wrong with the combination. You may have to wait a while to get one, but it is worth the wait.
cwlondon
1,210 posts
 
Pubul57

Are you a dealer or do you otherwise have any vested interest in the success of this product?

Thank you,
chaz801's avatar
chaz801
77 posts
 
Bobby mentioned that there will be a write up on this fine integrated in Stereophile I believe in the October issue.
Stay tuned.
pubul57 OP
3,712 posts
 
Cwlondon, no - I make my living selling newspapers. And I doubt there are any dealers (not sure about that), these are handmade, one-by-one in small quantities and you can expect a wait to get one. I think the maker does it as a labor of love, he makes his living as a doctor. I just got my Stereophile yesterday, and John Marks just about said it all. Including the fact that this is not an amp for everyone - you need the right type of speakers - easy load (8 ohms, no ugly dips), fairly efficient (87-89db or higher) -- but with the right speakers (like Merlins)this amp is great, period.
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