ARC Ref 75 SE Question
 

I recently purchased a used Ref 5 SE that I am very happy with. Currently I have Bryston 7B3 mono amps and PMC Fact 12s along with the Ref 5 SE in my system. I am quite happy with this combo. However I have never owned a tube amp before and am really pleased with the improvement in sound quality that my Ref 5 SE brought to my system. So I would like to try an ARC tube amp. I am looking at a Ref 75 SE to pair with the Ref 5 SE. I assume this combo will be great, however the PMC Fact 12s are power hungry with 84dB sensitivity. I am wondering if the Ref 75 SE would have challenges driving the Fact 12s. The volume is typically between 20-40 on my Ref 5 SE. Any comments would be much appreciated.

Congratulations, The Ref 5se is a truly excellent sounding preamp.

I don't think the Ref 75se would have enough power to drive your speaker properly. You could borrow a Ref 150se from an ARC dealer to see how it sounds in your system. But if you are happy with the Bryston, you might want to just keep it. Bryston makes some nice amps. Tube amps are a bit more work and expense then other tube gear. The power tubes have to be replaced every so often and the bias needs to be checked. Adding a tube CD player, DAC or phono preamp might be a better way to get more tubes in your system.

Is there any part of your system that you are unhappy with?

The 75SE is pretty powerful though, but what's the size of your room?

Best Sir,

Bob

No, I am happy with it. But going from a SS pre to the Ref 5 SE was a big improvement for me and so I am curious about adding an ARC tube amp. I don't have the ability to demo so I was thinking of the Ref 75 SE since it is the less expensive model. Thank you..

About 12ft x 20ft, thank you.

That is not a small room. My room is 13' x 24' with 9 foot ceilings. My speakers are 92db and my amp is a little over 100 wpc with the KT120 tubes. I would rather have a little extra head room than to be pushing the amp at times.

If you wanted to try one, you could buy a used tube amp and see how it works in your system. If you don't like it, you can always sell the amp. You wouldn't be out that much. I would go with an amp that is at least 100 wpc. If you got a used Ref 150 you could always have it upgraded to an SE later if you wanted. The Ref 150 can run the KT 150 tubes just like the SE version.

There is a synergy to an all ARC system. But I am not familiar enough with your speakers to know how good a match they will make.

The Ref75 is surprisingly powerful, but you do have a fairly large room and very inefficient speakers. It's probably not the best choice. If you don't listen to loud rock, you might be ok. Ref150 is definitely going to be a better choice if you do listen loud.

I listen mostly to large scale classical music at moderate levels. I auditioned Aerial 7Ts (89 DB sensitivity) with the 75SE a year or two ago. The tone of the 75SE made quite an impression - beautiful! But the bass was not well controlled. For an 84 DB speaker, it would have been out of the question, and doubling the power to 150 watts would only provide an extra 3 DB headroom. It's pretty well known that ARC preamps with Bryston power amps are an excellent coupling. The 7B3 monos provide 600 watts into 8 ohms, 900 into 4. A 75 SE or a 150 SE will be a BIG step down in power with 84 DB sensitive speakers, especially if these are 4 ohm speakers.

I agree with Lost Bears and 2Fastdriving. Get a used Ref150 or 150SE

Thank you all for your valuable advice, I appreciate it.