Curious about these. I thought my Ref 6Se and 160S combo was going to be end game until the 330 came out. But life hit a detour and I heard the Boulder 2160 with the Ref 6Se. In comparison, the 160S seemed incredibly slow. So now I have the ARC and Boulder combo. At nearly $20k more than the Boulder, it would really have to impress for me to go back to ARC.
I listened to a pair of Audio Research Reference 330Ms
I finally got a chance to listen to these amps. I've waited 3 years to hear these things. Here are my thoughts.
First of all the fit, finish, form and fancy of these amps is really impressive. It's an elegant design. They feel massive and substantial. They feel luxurious.
The first thing I noticed is that they threw off very little heat. I assumed that KT 170 tubes would blaze with heat- like the 6550s in my ARC amp at home do. Wrong. These tubes are not wound up tight. They feel more like they are idling.
As for the sound- mids, highs, details, depth, breadth are what you'd expect from a $90,000 set of amps. Exceptional and satisfying. But not much better than the Burmester 909 Mk 5. Maybe just as good. Not worse though.
IMO ALL ARC tube gear has the same "voice". Warmly analytical but not a warm bubble bath (with somewhat grey water) like, say the McIntosh MC 9011.
Where the amps made me smile was the slam bass. No flab, no mud, no exhausted bass extension. Not tube-y. They are LOUD. Surprisingly so. Loud like a 1000 watt Bryston SS Monoblock is loud. Surprisingly driving the Magico M7s at background music level there were layers of detail and wonderful bass.
Are they worth the ask? I have a pair on order. Definitely outside my budget but I suspect that long after the price is forgotten the quality and sonic purity will continue to reward me.
Bravo! ARC! You have outdone yourselves with this one.
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You have experienced the basic difference between good quality tube amplification and good quality solid state. Solid state is much quicker and produces greater slam. But it is not as natural, musical and nuanced in the bass. The really fast slam is something you do not experience in the real world of live music. The ARC amps are designed to sound exactly like the real thing and capture the full rhythm and pace as well as midrange bloom. They are designed for different tastes and objectives. |
@ghdprentice I hear you. I should have included in my post, with my change to the Boulder, I lost no sense of musicality or naturalness in the bass. Now, consider that the 2160 is 3x the cost of the 160; I felt I lost nothing from the move |
@wolf_garcia -- My Dennis Had Inspire 45 "Fire Bottle" amp and LP3.1 preamp also kick some serious rear-end, especially with Emission Labs tubes. My Forte II's sing. Dennis Had gear is woefully underappreciated...and I'm glad! I can still get his custom, hand made gear at a reasonable price. |
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