I owned a CA50 for a couple of years after sifting through a number of separates of similar or slightly lower price (Anthem, CJ Sonographe) and an NAD 317 and used it very successfully with a pair of Spendor SP1/2a's.
Compared to the others I had recently tried, the ARC was very transparent and had a lower noise floor. The power output was lower than the others in every case but with these I didn't feel anything amiss. It is a true high end component, and cheap on the used market for what it sells for.
When I replaced it with a flagship Pioneer AVR and went HT the things I missed were the see through transparency, the very low noise floor and the PRAT. Funny, every time I go back to tubes I love the musicality but then I revert back to the user friendliness of SS.
Hope this helps.
Compared to the others I had recently tried, the ARC was very transparent and had a lower noise floor. The power output was lower than the others in every case but with these I didn't feel anything amiss. It is a true high end component, and cheap on the used market for what it sells for.
When I replaced it with a flagship Pioneer AVR and went HT the things I missed were the see through transparency, the very low noise floor and the PRAT. Funny, every time I go back to tubes I love the musicality but then I revert back to the user friendliness of SS.
Hope this helps.