audio research REF 150

Oregonpapa:
New ARC products are always announced as a more or less big revolution in sound quality compared to the replaced model.
The truth is that many still prefer earlier models.
Personally I have used all Reference preamps except Ref5 and the 40 anniversary top model.
Still prefer Ref One...

Ref 150 might be extremely good, but value a ARC employee opinion for what it is. A coloured opinion.

Does anyone have a REF150 ?
Can some owners comment on the sonic attributes of this amp and also what other amp did it replace in your system. REF110, VTM200, VT200, VS115, or others.....

Considering replacing my Classic 120's with a REF150.

Any feedback appreciated.

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Flex2: I to have owned all of the AR Reference preamps except the Ref5 and anniversary model. Each one was excellent. But to my ears, each new incarnation was better. Pretty much, it comes down to a matter of preference.
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Just spent a couple full days using a demo 150 with my Martin Logan CLX full range electrostatics. Even though the MLs have a tough impedance that drops to an ohm at high frequencies, the best sounding tap by a large margin was the 16 ohm connection. The sound was very good and reasonably smooth.

Using a computer based RTA, i noticed that the response tilted downward as I moved the taps to the lower connections and sounded progressively better on the highest tap value. (not so good on the lower values)

Very rich and dynamic sounding. The fans are quiet but are audible when anywhere near the amplifier. The dynamics were very good and the amp was quiet even compared to a rock solid Class A Accuphase.

You can turn the fans down. There is a 4 way fan speed switch inside. Factory setting is maximum speed, but if you do not plan to put your amp in a cabinet of some kind, you can safely turn it down to minimum speed, or disconnect it altogether (that is how I used to run my Ref110).

Comparing the Ref110 vs Ref150, the new amp has double the energy starage (24x 470uf/450v caps in Ref150 vs 12 x 470uf/450v caps in Ref110), different coupling caps (may be the same as those used in Ref 40 - but not sure) and KT120 tubes.

I haven't had a chance to hear the Ref110 vs Ref150 side by side, since my Ref110 is long gone, but I think that the Ref150 has better bass (although still not state of the art in solid state terms), more clarity and resolution on top. It is increadibly dynamic, and retains one tf the Ref110 halmarks - excellent PRaT and midrange texture.

Overall, I still prefered my Dart, but the sound quality difference was nowhere near as big as the price difference may sugggest ($30.000 vs $12.000). If I hadn't had the dart, I might have bought the Ref 150.