Since you have gotten no responses to your query, I will give you some "hearsay" input.
My friend, who has the ARC ref. 2 (mk 1, I think) did a home demo of the Ref. 3. He said it was a definite improvement over his ref. 2. He said that when the ref. 3 comes down in price, that he will sell his in order to buy it. (However, he said that currently, even used, it was too much to justify the improvement.)
FYI: My friend has very good ears in regard to listening for sonic improvements from equipment changes (I guess that comes from buying and selling a fair amount of gear over the last few years!), so I trust his judgement.
Remember though, advice is only worth what you pay for it!
You can mail me the check for the advice! :-)
Good Luck!
My friend, who has the ARC ref. 2 (mk 1, I think) did a home demo of the Ref. 3. He said it was a definite improvement over his ref. 2. He said that when the ref. 3 comes down in price, that he will sell his in order to buy it. (However, he said that currently, even used, it was too much to justify the improvement.)
FYI: My friend has very good ears in regard to listening for sonic improvements from equipment changes (I guess that comes from buying and selling a fair amount of gear over the last few years!), so I trust his judgement.
Remember though, advice is only worth what you pay for it!
You can mail me the check for the advice! :-)
Good Luck!