2. amps-preamps
  3. 1394484564

ARC or other Pre?

Hi all,
I need a balanced pre to go with my ARC V140 mono blocks. An ARC pre is the obvious choice but it seems that the REF5 is one of the few options worth having, the others sounding worse than it in the range (obviously). What else is out there for less cash? I have £3k uk pounds max. Can spend less! Doesn't have to be valves.

Front end is VPI super scoutmaster and speakers are Martin Logan Clarity.

Cheers, T
timfld

Showing 2 responses by atmasphere

atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
12,138 posts
 
^^ ARC has an internal policy of a new product announcement every 90 days. It might be an amplifier, DAC, preamp- whatever.
atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
12,138 posts
 
OK- you asked... IMO/IME ARC has had a 'house sound' for a long time. To me it has always been slightly dry, conservative, good definition, but not lively. So far in terms of preamps I have heard they have all been some variant of that house sound.

I gotta believe that transistors and other passives are simply better than what was out there in the early days.

Not exactly sure how to interpret this statement, but if we are talking about passive components, I think you are right- they have improved. Transistors these days is another matter- the manufacturers are less interested in making linear transistors and there are a lot of counterfeits that have no-where near the performance they are supposed to have. This is one reason why class D is showing up more and more (not to mention they are a lot cheaper to build).
More to discover