This is all I know about.
However the sound of audio components are not just overall design, it is also about carefully choosing each subcomponent and I’m sure wiring… etc.
Audio Research S-200
ARC has finally updated their website to show their six new products. Of them, this is the one I can see myself buying in order to get away from the demands of my Ref 150 SE (though my Ref 80S is seemingly easier on tubes). The ARC site shows next to nothing about the design principles reportedly adopted/impemented by Mike Bettinger. One side of me says "who cares" since by and large all solid state amps look pretty much the same inside and despite the manufacturer's claims, there is precious little that is groundbreaking in amplifier design, particularly with class A-B. But the other side of me wants to see what ARC has to say. I am particularly interested to read what they will admit to; after all can there really be any doubt that ARC came back out with two solid state designs to get away from their vulnerability to the fluctuations in the tube market?
So, does anyone have any information at this point?
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It’s odd that ARC used two model designations from the past. The original LS-2 was a hybrid linestage with a single tube for gain surrounded by lots of solid state circuitry; and the LS-3 was an all-solid state linestage. The new LS-2 purports to be a tube gain stage with tube cathode follower output; and the new LS-3 is still all solid state. It seems unnecessarily confusing. |
@salectric I 100% agree. There are an infinite number of model designations that could be chosen, so why on earth reuse old ones...? |
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