Arc Ref 10 and Constellation Audio Centaur Mono
 

I am thinking of matching my Ref 10 with Constellation Audio Centaur Mono amps. I am curious if anyone has tried this combo or maybe the Ref 5SE or Ref 40??? Or, for that matter, any tube preamp experience with the Centaurs would be welcome.

Thanks in advance for feedback,

Hi, Paul. That sounds like a sweet combo.

(I guess the Pass Labs XA200.5s did not float your boat)

Paul,

I once upon a time had the REF 10 with a Centaur stereo amp. My results were mixed. It was a function of the speakers. It was a great combination with the Magico Q1s but kind of sucked with my Nola Baby Grands. Whereas my Ref250s were easily bested by the Centaur on the Q1s and the REF250s easily bested the Centaur with the NOLAs.

Some speakers shine with tubes, some with SS and some are very good with both.

A friend of my friend has Ref Anniversary preamp with Constellation Centaur monos. He switched from ARC Ref 610t to Centaur. I presume he liked Constellation amp more than his old Ref610t :-) I did not listen to that system so can't comment more. He has Magico q5 which is a hard load for any amplifier. I agree with the comment above that power amp is very specific to the speaker to be used. Same amps may have very different results with different speakers.

I still absolutely love my Pass amps but am looking hard at Raidho speakers and I fear they don't match well with Pass. The Pass bass is a bit too heavy for the Raidhos which tend to be warm to begin with and don't have the speed to really do the Raihos justice. Constellation are a real nice fit. I have not made up my mind to buy the Raidhos yet but hope to spend time at Axpona doing some hard listening. If I go Magico S5 I will keep the Pass amps and my Ref 10.

Thanks,

Did you use the Ref 10 with both amps? I am looking to the Centaur specifically because they work well with Raidho and am hoping the ARC Ref 10 adds to this synergy.

Yes I used the REF10 with both amps.

Unfortunately, I did not try it with a Raidho, but with Magico and Nola. Which Raidho are you talking about?

The D3 which can handle and likes great speed but is a tad thick in the bass.

That should be an excellent combination!

Raidhos are fantastic speakers. If you have the ability to do a demo you might want to demo the stereo vs the dual monos but in any case that will be an excellent combination for that speaker. I am still very "partial" to tubes but the Centaur is one of the SS amps I really like and is a great match with Raidho

Do you feel the stereo is superior to the Monos??

Hi Paul,

If you have the opportunity, I would recommend doing a Raidho audition at Blink High End in Cambridge, MA. The synergy between their Audionet components, Nordost cabling and the D3 will blow you away. They have put a lot of care into component matching for Raidho with tremendous results.

Best,
Ken

Paul,

I wouldn't mind giving some Raidho D2's a run in my system. I love the sound of these speakers and room matching is not too much of an issue. The only question is how they would sound with my Pass XA amps. I think the D2's are a little more forgiving than the D3's but that doesn't necessarily equate to excellent synergy.

Ken

I had someone with the XA100.5s comment on great synergy with the smaller Raidhos. Let me try to find the quote.

Got my ref anni's driving a centaur stereo. Technically the 20k input impedance of the Centaur is within the minimum required for the Ref Anni. I had a chance to simultaneously compare the ref Anni to the Virgo 2 and the latter had a noticeably clearer, faster, more detailed presentation at the expense of added brightness which I was more than willing to sacrifice for the Ref's more relaxed and forgiving presentation. That being said, I can see others who will prefer the more upbeat sound of the Virgo 2.