Quote:
Originally Posted by Apexorca
 Diamonds are the best for a woman you know
In my system Krell was warmer, more fullbody, higher resolution, more dynamics and controll. ARC was a little bit harsh and had not that focus. When i tested it, I actually was a bit surprised. I thought ARC would be warmer. |
Correct me if I am wrong. I always thought tube gears were warm, sweet, "rolled off", smooth, liquid, etc. Harsh is not in tube vocabulary...
However, I agree with you. On many recordings, I find ref5se harsh on upper mid to highs. I thought I was going nuts. I had Manley Neo500 which was silky smooth. I thought C2300 and C2500 had very smooth midrange, but lacked detail and rolled off the highs - but NEVER harsh.
So, can it be that ARC ref5SE can be harsh on certain recordings? Maybe it's a blasphemy to even criticize ARC, but that has been my experience also. I just attributed that to my DAC and bad recordings.
In fact, I am on my 3rd DAC after getting ref5SE, due to this harshness. I thought DACs were the problems. I am still refusing to believe ref5 is the culprit...
But, maybe I need to rethink...