Any thoughts/experience with pairing a Ref 160S, a Ref 6SE, Ref 3SE Phono and a pair of Maggie 20.7? I have the Ref 6SE, the Phonon3SE and thevMaggiev20.7 on order. Was planning on Bryston amps but am considering the Ref 160S. It fits in between the Bryston 7B3 and 28B3 monos price-wise. But a lot less wattage.

I do not have Maggie’s… I have auditioned them innumerable times over the last 50 years. I used to be a planar guy. I have come so close, so many times, and never committed. But I do have a ARC REF 6SE, REF 160s, a REF 3 phono stage and a REF CD9se DAC… I definitely recommend the REF 160s. I am sorry to say this, but if that combination doesn’t sound like the best system in every way… swap out the Maggie’s. Although, I doubt this is likely.

Here is the thing… each piece of ARC REF that I put into my system (I had an ARC phono stage for thirty five years, preamp for thirty years)… the synergy was amazing. Step by step everything got more musical.

I mentioned I was a planar guy for close to forty years. I started going to the symphony… and suddenly turned from planar…. And remembered hearing Sonus Faber… which I bought, upgraded, upgraded… then all Audio Research took over… and I am now so completely amazed every day… right now as a matter of fact how incredible my system sounds. I used to be amazed at the detail, imaging, slam…. Now I just get lost in the music. Analog or digital, sound basically the same… music, not a system, not detail or slam. Just an emotional connection with the music.