ghdprentice
"ARC... tube amps are very neutral and natural not remotely syrupy. Your description of what you wanted described it perfectly. Also, ARC gear is very synergistic… the more in the signal path the better it sounds... I never realized how important this synergy was until I added an ARC amp and then an ARC DAC… wow… that was a jaw dropping moment..."
Agree...
I have been using the ARC Ref 5se as a preamp with various SS amps... and... while it sounds fine... it didn’t really have that "tube magic," until I mated it with the ARC Ref 150se amp. That combo added the detail resolution, air, and atmosphere that had been missing.
However, I would not say it is as "tubey" sounding as... say... McIntosh, or maybe some others. If you’re looking for that "phat" sound of tubes... that may not be found in ARC amps, which seem to focus more on "high resolution." That is also my impression of my Atma-sphere M60’s - which, seem to me to have a more neutral, high resolution sound.
I would go hear some ARC and other setups with matching components, before you decide what to do. It will be harder to find "miss-matched" setups to demo, but would be best if you could find them to demo. Otherwise, you’re likely going to be searching (via trial and error) for a while.