Any ARC GSPre owners here ?

Thank you for the thoughts. I am not going to jump until either the next major show or the end of the year.

Thank you BIF, Lostbears and everyone else,

I am sure as the year wears on, my choice will be more clear. A friend had the Ref 5 SE and Ref 150 (non SE) and it sounded fantastic. Surely a combination I'd love to have someday. The newer SE amps seem like a no brainer.

Thank you for your experiences. I hope to hear the GSPre and Ref 5SE in my system. I'll let you guy know what I hear.

BIF,

Yes, Great advice.

In my post above, I meant to mention the Ref 75 SE as an amp choice. I don't feel I need the power of the Ref 150 (SE) class amps and 75 wpc will be enough for me.

I am going for the preamp first because I just purchased a Lampizator Big 7 balanced and a pair of Lampizator fully balanced 211 amps. An amazing combination but want to try a preamp in the chain. I am going direct now and can not believe what I am hearing. I normally prefer a preamp in my system but my current CJ GAT is not balanced.
I think an ARC preamp will, in this case, be a great choice. The only major difference I can see is the GSPre's out impedance is 500 ohms vs 600 for the Ref 5SE. Not sure if that means a whole lot, but I usually prefer the lower output impedance pre in my system.

Thank you for the clarification David. I agree.