Perhaps I have not communicated that well. I would not say the Vsi 75 is at all of a different class from the reference, they have very much the same sound… most of it. As you move up the differences are subtitle versus a different company who’s sound is very different.
I recently spent time with a $10K Luxman integrated , $10K Pass Integrated, and the $6K ARC I-50 (?). The Luxman was cold and detailed without rhythm and pace (musicality), the Pass was powerful with good rhythm and pace, the Audio Research… well, my eyes closed and I fell into the music… I would take the ARC I-50 over any Luxman and most Pass at several times the price.
So I want to be very careful at what I am communicating. The differences between companies is far greater than levels within one… in general. I would take a level down or two in ARC over the others any day.