@smoffatt
What did you end up with?
My first tube gear purchase was a pair of CL120s here about 3 years ago. I had Parasound HCA 2200ii X 1 and X 2(bridged mono), Parasound HCA 3500 and a B&K 200.2.
Can you believe that my system's dynamics and volume was stronger from the CL120s compared to all 3 of those setups??? Those Parasounds are 750 watts bridged and the big boy(3500)is 385 wpc. Spec sheets can drive us crazy, we have to trust our ears and those 110 watts from the CL120 are amazing.
I tried to like the SS amps more to eliminate maintenance and fuss, but every time I reconnected the CL120s it was like, ahhhhhhh.
BTW, I have over 4000 hours on my 6550s and they still sound amazing!
I am very curious about a REF75, REF150 or GS150, but haven't tried one yet. I have a friend that has heard the CL120s and he is adamant that the REF75 was a big improvement. He has heard about every older ARC amp there is and was blown away by the REF75. He has NOT heard the amps beyond the 75.
The REF 210s are another model I have been very curious about, but I would like to move away from having so many tubes to tend with.
What did you end up with?
My first tube gear purchase was a pair of CL120s here about 3 years ago. I had Parasound HCA 2200ii X 1 and X 2(bridged mono), Parasound HCA 3500 and a B&K 200.2.
Can you believe that my system's dynamics and volume was stronger from the CL120s compared to all 3 of those setups??? Those Parasounds are 750 watts bridged and the big boy(3500)is 385 wpc. Spec sheets can drive us crazy, we have to trust our ears and those 110 watts from the CL120 are amazing.
I tried to like the SS amps more to eliminate maintenance and fuss, but every time I reconnected the CL120s it was like, ahhhhhhh.
BTW, I have over 4000 hours on my 6550s and they still sound amazing!
I am very curious about a REF75, REF150 or GS150, but haven't tried one yet. I have a friend that has heard the CL120s and he is adamant that the REF75 was a big improvement. He has heard about every older ARC amp there is and was blown away by the REF75. He has NOT heard the amps beyond the 75.
The REF 210s are another model I have been very curious about, but I would like to move away from having so many tubes to tend with.