OP — are you arbitrarily using ARC REF6SE as a benchmark because you know its sound? My big system uses that pre-amp, and I’m in love with it. It beats what I’ve used before in that room by a wide margin, but then again everything I used before was not truly competitive. I definitely prefer it to the McIntosh house sound. And it can wear different hats depending on cartridge, or DAC upgrades. But I’ve never heard VAC, or VTL, or Ayre in my room/system. I do push back gently on the idea that ARC’s high def sound brings you closer to SS. I hear finesse, air, levitation, dimensionality+ — yes, in a very resolving package — way more than the best SS, including the Progression integrated that I use in my home office. IOW, don’t hold it against ARC that they achieved resolution levels we don’t expect from tubes (I put VTL and VAC in the same camp). If you need gobs of grip and impact, SS is my suggestion. But I’m presupposing by your question that you know those basics.
