Has anyone heard the new ARC Ref 3 Preamp?

Only briefly at CES. Source was ARC CD3 MkII CD player, Amplifiers were ARC Ref 300 MkII, speaker system Wilson Audio MAXX Series 2, and cabling was by Shunyata Research and power conditioning by Richard Gray. Of course, the sound was stunning. ARC always gets nice sound out of their system at Vegas. Many folks thought it was the best sound at the show this year. They also had a static display showing the inner workings of the REF 3 and the build quality was really impressive. Looked like a giant size rendition of a fine Swiss watch. Made the Hovland HP200 look like it was built in a high school shop class. And no, I am NOT an ARC dealer.

Excellent critique Jimburger,,,Bob

Hi,

You might also want to consider the Aesthetix Callisto Signature in that price range.

Good Luck!

I compared it today to a VTL 5.5 and it sounded better but maybe not worth the price difference. It sounded good but I would not pay $10,000 for it.

It recieved a great review in a Norwegian Hi-End magazine this month. Haven't heard it myself.

Regards

Musicdesign and all, just yesterday I spent three hours compaing the ARC Ref 3 with the VAC Ren Sig II. Front end was supplied by the new DCS P8I single box player and by the Accuphase DP-77. Ref 3 was stunning. Amazingly DCS P8I was also extremely good when driving the amp directly. You will find my rather detailed findings at:
http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?aamps&1123254379&openfrom&58&4#58
Please visit. Your opinions welcome!