Aric Audio

Aric is a great guy and a fantastic builder. The best kept secret in hi fi.

I agree. I think Aric is definitely one of the talented good guys in this hobby. I had purchased a used amp some time ago and had some questions. He was responsive throughout, as well as nice and genuine. What more could you ask for from a small business like this that I’m sure is busy?

No sale involved that day, but he’ll have my business tomorrow. 

Aric is outstanding. I currently am running two of his preamps in my two systems.  His Motherlode II in my listening room,and an Unlimited in the secondary system.  I’ve been a big fan of Aric’s for sometime now.  I’ve had some questions over the years, and he always responded very quickly.   

lI have his phono pre, preamp and amplifier. Just excellent stuff. He called me to ask about my favorite tubes one time.

Fair and honest person to deal with. And good equipment on top of that!
 

Bent

I have the super 300B and the super 6sn7 line stage, truly a match made in heaven. I hope he doesn't become overwhelmed with too many orders like Steve at Decware. I plan on snagging the 2A3 someday.

Transcend Push-Pull with a few upgrades here. A very fine amp indeed, playing far beyond its price point. Aric is a truly good dude.

I have had Radu Tarta build me custom SET  amps and DHT preamps 

SET is low wattage  but. As clean as signal path there  is ,your speakers have to be pretty sensitive  though  Radu who has at least 40 years in vacuum tube equipment

and any type of. Woods  mits nice when you can pick out your own design.

@scottya118

It is good to read that you are very happy with your new Aric Audio amplifier. You already have an excellent amplifier reference point via the Pass XA 30.8. What does the el84 single ended amplifier do that you consider an improvement?

Charles

Clarity in the midrange at lower volumes.

Aric, and his gear, are true audio gems! I go out of my way to recommend reaching out to him at every opportunity.

I purchased his Special 6SN7 preamp about 4 years ago. Later his Transcend PP amplifier. Recently had Aric upgrade the Special so it is more like a souped up Transcend pre.  As others herein have stated Aric is wonderful to work with. Highly recommended.

I also own a Pass XA25 amplifier which i swap out with the PP tube amplifier depending on the speaker under use. Aric or Pass for Fritz Carbon 7s, Pass for Magnapan LRS+ in a smallish room.  

@michaellent 

Do you have the Transcend MM phono stage? I been eyeballing it for a while now.

Not sure it would be an upgrade or lateral move compared to the Modwright PH9.0.

I just took delivery of a Super 300B amp yesterday and I’m very pleased. This is my third Aric amp, but the first one I’ve  bought new. Aric is a class act and I can’t say enough about his quality of work and customer service.

I can only join the choir singing praises for Aric. Happy owner of Super 2A3 SET for little more than 3 years now. I have yet to consider looking anywhere else for another amp. Feed it from a passive Slagle autoformer preamp, audio bliss.

tby,

what speakers are you using with the 2A3 and in what size room? I'm wanting to get one but am not sure if they would do 93-95 db.

I have the Motherlode XL and the Super KT Parallel monoblocks and couldn't be happier.  They replaced some expensive solid-state Class A amps and matching preamp.  

Aric is wonderful to work with and gets excited about building new things for his clients.  Both my preamp and amps were new products Aric developed for me and is now offering on his website.  His communication, patience, and desire to build the very best product he can are among the best I have encountered.  

Taken together, the Aric Audio components produce an engaging, dynamic, realistic, and human sound.  Plus the build quality is excellent.  

doodlebum,

I use to run a pair of Zu DW, worked surprisingly well. I have since moved on to a pair of Lii Song origin s10, match made in heaven.

@theflattire 

The Transcend phono stage is next up for me.

@charles1dad 

I have sent you two messages through Audiogon. Are they getting through?

@ozzy62 

Sorry I have  not received them.

Charles

I want to thank everyone for their kind words and for trusting me to build their audio equipment for them. It’s really great to be able to do this as a full time gig and pursue my passion. I also wanted to chime in on a couple of the products mentioned above.

1, The Super 2A3 SET has several features in the build that allow it to sound much larger than it’s 3.5 watt per channel rating, and it is an excellent match for any speakers 92 db and up with a relatively benign impedance curve. The driver stage has 5x’s the headroom needed to drive the grid of the 2A3, so that the driver never runs out of steam. When the amplifier clips, it is the power tube- not the driver stage.

I also use a power supply transformer rated at 3x’s the current of what the amplifier will draw. The toroid power transformer has a very low DCR and therefore excellent self-regulation, which helps the bass in the amplifier- it remains tight and impactful up to clipping, and even then it’s a very gradual clipping, not a hard/fast hitting of the wall. This amp also features some updates which are not shown on my website yet. It now uses Transcendar output transformers, which are hand-wound by Gery Gaetani in Hollister California. He’s been a transformer maker for many years and I was lucky enough to get into the fold before he shut down his website. The amp also uses an updated driver stage of a 6SL7 direct-coupled to a 6SN7 "follower" to drive the 2A3s and there is only one high quality coupling capacitor per channel. Another update is the amplifier now uses (2) 5U4GB rectifiers to allow better performance near or at clipping, as well as simply to give the amplifier more current headroom. The price on the website reflects these changes, although the picture of the new amp has not been added yet (I still have to build another to use as a "photo model" to then post pics).

2. My Transcend MM phono stage will be updated soon to be able to accept even low output MC carts via a set of Sowter 1:20 (switchable to 1:10) step up transformers. I will have selectable capacitance and input impedance as well as a different output tube to allow the stage to have more gain. This will allow a much wider range or carts, and the ability to drive an amplifier with the phono stage directly (no line-stage needed).

These products will be added soon to the website, how soon I can’t say but as soon as I have a chance to build them.

Best regards, Aric

Thank you Aric, I have my eye on your Motherload XL pre amp. Some day I hope!

@fthompson251 Much appreciated!

Aric,

is your new transcend review out yet? I couldn’t find it.

Thanks for the question. I have the Transcend  push-pull amplifier back from review as of last week, but the review itself is currently being written. I imagine it will be a month or so before it is out in print, however I don’t know for sure. The amp is the same model as has been reviewed back in ‘19 by TJ, but the new version has  more than a few upgrades to the design. 
best, Aroc

I have the transcend mm phono, had it for a little over a year now, and was going to email Aric directly but I’m happy to jump in here. Every time I play records I enjoy this unit more. It’s been a wonderful playground for tubes and SUTs, really showing off what those changes can bring. I run mine directly into a passive pre and smooth ss amplification so yeah, I have been appreciating the added umph brought in by a current production JJ 5U4GB rectifier. With JJ a-frame 12ax7s in the sweet spot, and this amazing Hashimoto HM3 SUT, I’m getting just incredible clarity and tone and presence out of a standard SPU. Just huge smiles when playing well-recorded stuff. Aric was fantastic to work with, and entertained my request for a solid color wood. Couldn’t be happier. Thanks so much Aric! 

@subterranean6 Have you been able to compare it to any other phono stages?  I have a Modwright PH9.0 and been thinking hard on the Transcend.  I use Hashimoto HM-7s.

@aricaudio Aric are you still going to offer the Transcend MM only?

@subterranean6 Thanks for the follow up, and I'm glad you're enjoying your Transcend MM phono!

@theflattire Yes, I will keep the MM only stage and have a separate MM/MC stage available. 

Best, Aric