2. amps-preamps
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For classical music lovers best amp for large orchestral forces?

I recently upgraded my pre to an arc ref 6se. Currently using pas xa25. It's a very good amp but I'm noticing a fair amount of compression when playing large symphonic works. My speakers are Dalis and they are excellent as is the arc.

For smaller forces, chamber, piano and voices the system works beautifully. But if I'm looking for more transparency and a deeper sound stage for symphonies I find sometimes a boxy cramped sound. Looking to spend around 8k or less either tube or solid state. There have been discussions about the xa25 and what's better but they fill up immediately with tangents of philosophical and technical discussions of how one hears. I'm looking for as many possibilities of actual units that I can read about and possibly hear.

Thanks for your ideas.

roxy1927

Showing 2 responses by ghdprentice

ghdprentice
6,423 posts
 

Congratulations on the ARC Ref 6SE. I have one… I love it.

The answer to your question is easy: Audio Reseach Reference 320m. I have an Reference 160m it is simply stunning and so complementary to the 6SE… and the Ref CD9SE… the stuff just works together so well. My next amp will be the Ref 320m.

 

My analog end has a ARC Ref 3 Phonostage… fantastic phono stage.

ghdprentice
6,423 posts
 

@runwell

 

Well, actually I have both the REF 160s and the REF 160m monoblocks. To be honest, I don’t own them… but have had them for over four months. My dealer lent them to me… well, until he needs them. I have been listening to them for so long at this point I just state the status quo. Both are shown in some of my system photos.

 

The difference. The monoblocks have a slightly greater air and maybe a very small amount of impact. However, this is a very early production model of the REF 160m with low hours, and it is likely ARC tweaked them a bit to improve the sound in the ensuing production runs, so if you bought a new pair they might sound a bit better. The REF 160s actually looks cooler. Until the REF 320m was released I said, if I was buying the 160 again I probably would have gotten the monos. For one reason with mono blocks you can locate them right next to your speakers and use a really short speaker cable… which gives you a big performance gain.

If getting an ARC REF 160 is a stretch for you… then definitely get the REF 160s and I would not feel like I was missing anything. I tried Cardas Clear beyond vs Audio Quest Hurricane power cords… and the difference the Hurricane brought to my 160s was notably greater than the difference in the sound between the 160s and the monoblocks. Also, I brought the 160s performance a bit higher by adding isolation under it.

Also on speaker impedance. My speaker impedance is 4 ohms… no trouble driving my speakers to crazy high volumes in triode mode… 70wpc.

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