Audio Research Corp Ref 5 SE

Doggiehower,

The REF 5SE is an amazing piece. It's worth the wait. I waited over three months for my unit. I have 40 hours on the unit now and it's sounding better everyday. Only another 560 hours of break in to go.

It was bought as a new unit. I had to wait over three months.

Bifwynne,

The Ref 5SE is my first tube preamp and I have not heard the original Ref 5 or Ref3 so I can't comment on the improvements.

I can only compare it to an Ayre KXR and Pass Labs XP-10.

Glai,

I did a bit more comparison between the KXR and the REF 5SE yesterday before returning the KXR to my friend. I think both preamps are excellent but thre are some minor differences and which one is better is a personal preference.

The KXR has lower background noise and instruments are better separated and the high frequency is a bit more extended. The REF 5SE on the other hand, has vocal that is more emotionally involved. I guess that is what tubes are all about. But to my surprise, the highs and low ends are more like solid state than tubes. I was expecting soft bass and rolled off top end.

To my ears, the REF 5SE is the better preamp by a slim margin. I have always been a SS guy and this is my first tube equipment.

I look forward to Tylercoupe's comparison of these two great preamps.

Edison,

The bottom right corner of the face plate says "REFERENCE 5SE high definition"

Maybe they are at the CES drooling over the new ARC REF DAC. I wish I had more time to enjoy my 5SE. I just got a shunyata anaconda cx for my 5SE.

Karsajid,

There is a bit more low end and a fuller sound overall compared to to the lower end Shunyata cords.

Jtimothya,
The cord is Anaconda CX, not the latest one. I don't know if the ZiTron version is available yet.

Sounds like a really cool unit with lots of features. Hopefully, it doesn't have too many bugs. I just placed an order for theDAC 8 a couple of weeks ago.

How do you like the DAC 8?

Bifwynne,

Glad to hear that you are enjoying the REF5SE. I am sure the long wait for the upgrade was well worth it.

I just hit 750 hours on my unit after 18 months.