I realize everything can be very subjective and there are numerous opinions regarding sound. For me, I’ve found that the McIntosh C2500 has been the perfect fit. As I progressed in upgrading my amps, swapping between DACs, getting into vinyl...getting out of vinyl, swapping in a couple different preamps, going direct from my DAC and the list goes on, I kept coming back to my C2500. I did purchase an original set of Mullard tubes to replace the output stage on the C2500 and that has been the most significant impact to the overall presentation; which I think is probably obvious. I don’t use the onboard DAC and didn’t use the phono stages, so I can’t comment on their value.
I’ve listened to a couple ARC’s, I liked them, but preferred my McIntosh. I also listened to the PS Audio BHK pre, sounded great, but they lack tone controls; which may or may not be a deal breaker. For me, it was. Though, both (McIntosh/PS Audio) can be placed inline and used in a HT setup, as they have HT pass-through. I’ve since moved on and have two completely separate systems, one for HT and one for dedicated 2-channel.
I don’t recall if the ARC’s you’re referring to have HT passthru. I looked at the Ref 6 documentation and it wasn’t referenced, so I don’t think it does.
I’ve listened to a couple ARC’s, I liked them, but preferred my McIntosh. I also listened to the PS Audio BHK pre, sounded great, but they lack tone controls; which may or may not be a deal breaker. For me, it was. Though, both (McIntosh/PS Audio) can be placed inline and used in a HT setup, as they have HT pass-through. I’ve since moved on and have two completely separate systems, one for HT and one for dedicated 2-channel.
I don’t recall if the ARC’s you’re referring to have HT passthru. I looked at the Ref 6 documentation and it wasn’t referenced, so I don’t think it does.