ARC LS-5MKIII or ARC LS-25MKII

My experience is with 30SE not 31SE, sorry for the error. BAT is a very good preamp, in several ways it is better than LS5. Bass is better control, I think, that's why John hear better image across spectrum on the demo. Overall it is more transparent and has very refined top end and bass control is top notch for a tube gear. LS5 is more bloom and lush in the middle frequency, and I am a middle freq guy and not care so much about details or air. I prefer that warm sound of LS-5 or SP-10, to me this is the "tube sound". I did not mean BAT sound like a bad ss, but I mean a good ss. Just different flavor, I will compare BAT xxSE to the highly regarded C-J ART-I (ss) or Accuphase top end preamp. Many good ss preamp sounds awesome too.

I have the LS5MKIII - and when I originally auditioned it against the Ref 1 (home demo) thought the 5 was much more soulful. Had Steve at GNS put in IEC for aftermarket cords and had ARC put Infinicaps in. Suspect it'll be a legacy piece of gear I keep for a long long time. DO wish it had remote and have had occasions to wish for rca ins and outs too, but, for 99% of the time, it's love.

Best Regards,

Bob

Hi Bob,

What power amp do you partner with the your LS5-MKIII?
I am wonder if my CL's will match it.

Also did you replace standard factory tubes to some NOS tubes?

Regards,
Csaba

Hey bluefin, thanks for the clarification. Oh yes, I agree with your findings on the 30SE. It is in fact the 30SE that I started with when I traded the LS5 III to another memeber here, Steve.

When I received the 30SE, all of the incredible three dimensionality I had for years with the LS5 III was gone.
And Steve had told me this was an issue with him but he had heard rumors that the 31SE resolved this problem. This was indeed right as I knew I would upgrade to 31SE once I heard the side-by-side comparison of the 30SE vs 31SE at the BAT dealer.

The 30SE indeed has a severe rolloff on the top. Not only does this take away the extention in the upper frequencies, but it also takes away so much of the harmonic richness that models like the LS5 show through so well. But the 31SE resolves this issue very well. So if you ever get a chance, just out of curiosity, take your LS5 to a BAT dealer and have a listen to the two.

John

Yes,

John described the transaction as it occured and both of us ended up winners.

If I didn't have an ARC amp, I would have kept the 30se & had it converted to the 31se. I made the switch to the LS5 because of the percieved synergy with a balanced ARC amp. Now that I have ProAc speakers (R 3.8's) the synergy really shines through. I wish I had a 31se to compare to, unfortunatley there aren't any BAT dealers in the Chicago area.

As far as the GNS upgrade, I had an EIC installed and I'm using a Cardas Golden Reference PC, had the power supply beefed up & have Cardas Caps. I'm using Siemens 7308's or
Telefunkens. I'd like to try the Tungrsram ECC88's since they are more reasonably priced and I've seen them pop up on Audiogon recently. I'm using a set of them in a BAT P10 phono and they have exceptional low noise.

CSABA, sorry if some of us got off on a tangent, but you started great thread.

Steve