Quote:
Originally Posted by birdland
After finding an ARC Reference 5SE for sale on Audiogon and losing it because I hemmed and hawed about the purchase, a second 5SE showed up and I bought it. It should arrive sometime next week. I will see if all of the praise for the REF 5SE is worth it. 
I am looking forward to much better sound. Of course, having an ARC Ref 5SE and a REF 150 might reveal other limitations in my setup.  |
I assure you won't be disappointed with you decision on the Ref 5SE.
I had a LS15 Mk1, then MK II then, moved to LS16 with Classic 120 amps. Upgraded the LS16 to the LS26 and moved to VTM 200's. The change of preamp was very noticeable for the better each time.
I moved to the Ref 3 from the LS26 and it was the biggest change of any of the other Line Stages. My speakers started with SL3's to CLS IIz's and now CLX's
Considering you are going further up the Line Stage progression no doubt you will be very happy.
My Ref 3 left to be replaced by the 40th Anniversary Line Stage that is closer to the Ref 5SE than the Ref 3 is.
The VT200's were replaced with 610T's.
I included all of this as I went through a very similar anguish to what you were trying to noodle through.
I can't wait to here your thoughts once you have some listening time. My guess is 30-90 seconds and you will have that goofy grin that comes with an amazing upgrade.