tube pre amp with tube / SS /hybrid power amp ?

05-30-08: Chadnliz
My father has on order a Aesthetix Atlas hybrid amp that we demoed with a Audio Research ref 3 (same pre as he owns) and the match is sonic heaven.atleast ith his Vandersteens.

Hey Chad, did you get a chance to compare the Aesthetix Atlas with the ARC HD-220 in the same system? I'm just curious as these two amps would seem to make natural competitors. I would think the ARC HD-220 would mate better with the ARC Ref 3, but this may not be so.

Cheers,
John

That 10X's impedence matching rule is VERY conservative, IMHO. Most of the credit for the 10X rule goes to Victor Khemenko of BAT. However, others, like ARC, recommend at least 30X.
From my experiences, the higher levels are much, much better. Yes, I suppose you could get by with 10X's, but I find that 100X-300X sounds better.

Cheers,
John

Thanks for the reply Chad, I was just curious as to if there was any synergy between the Ref 3 and the HD220. I'm sure the Aesthetix Atlas is a great amp. I own the ARC Ref 3 and have heard it with tube and SS amps (I prefer tube), but I haven't heard it with any Hybrid amps.

Cheers,
John