ARC VSi60 vs Ayon Spirit II/III

Hi Folks,

Thanks for the feedback!

I've had an SP9 MKII preamp previously and enjoyed it a lot. then I went the SS Integrated route.

I've heard the VSI60 with the Sonus speakers I have, and the Ayre CX-7eMP CDP that I have, and there is a fine synergy there. Still need to have a listen to the Ayon, which i'm looking forward to. McIntosh is always a great idea, and so I'll give it a listen, especially since my local shop carries both ARC & McIntosh (along with Ayre and Sonus Faber).

After reading a post response that referenced a recommendation for a sauce to accompany an undisclosed entree ;-), it would be good idea if I included the speakers I have:

Sonus Faber Grand Piano Home, second gen.

The link in my original post pointing to my "rig" was, of course, useless. The system link adjacent to my user name at the bottom of my posts does point to a current snapshot of my system.

Thanks,
Gary

A buddy of mine here on agon (the_kid) has had GP's for years & ran them w/a cary sli-80 & really liked the combo but has since moved onto a Unison integrated i believe. i used to have the ARC vsi55 that i bought new w/my present speakers & it didn't have good synergy...it had plenty of punch but came off dry & not quite 20/20 vision if you get my drift. for my money i'd go w/the Ayon for the triode mode ability & more user friendliness...i.e. fused power tubes being the most important along w/conventional knobs instead of the push button ARC & my guess better sound.

I agree with Pehare and would go with an amp offering triode operation. Also, I prefer to be able to manually bias my tubes. The Spirit III has added auto-bias, so for me, I would go with the Spirit II unless there were some other compelling reason to go with the Spirit III.

Note too that I have not heard the ARC and do not intend for my remarks to be a comment on its sound qualities. I have heard a Spirit I and liked it just fine once the stock small tubes were replaced with some NOS tubes. The power tubes were Gold Lion KT88 and they were fine.

Hi Folks,

Thanks again for the input.

Pehare, I do agree about the ARC being a bit dry. At the same time, I was very impressed with the punch of the ARC, and I did enjoy the time I had listening to the vsi60 (which was matched with the Ayre CDP I have, and a more or less comparable pair of Sonus speakers). Of course, listening in my space would be a very different experience.

Reynolds853, I agree with you and Pehare with regards the availability of running in triode. The auto-bias on the Spirit III is not a deciding factor for me.

Bottom line right now is that I still haven't auditioned the Ayon, and so none of this will be resolved until that occurs.

Once again folks, thanks.