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Old 09-16-2012, 08:51 PM
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cmalak cmalak is offline
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Default JV's take on Ref5SE/Ref250 combo vs. CJ GAT/ART combo...

Jonathan Valin of TAS had a preview blog on the Ref 250s here: Audio Research Reference 250 Monoblock Amplifier | The Absolute Sound

In the commentary section at the bottom of the blog, I asked him to compare the CJ GAT/ART combo which he reviewed so favorably earlier in the year with the Ref 5SE/Ref 250 combo (official reviews to come in the coming months) and here is his reply:

Quote:
cmalak,

The ARC gear has more energy than the c-j gear, top to bottom, as well as more inner detail and greater presence. The Ref 250/5 SE may be a little darker in overall balance than the very neutral, slightly more "civilized" c-j ART and GAT (quite a change from ARC's usually brightish sonic signature) and, like all ARC gear from go, on spotlighted vocalists or instrumentalists it is a bit more "forward" than the c-j, though it gives up nothing to the c-j gear in overall stage width, depth, or height. Both have lifelike density of tone color (though the ARC may be a little richer) and are very low in noise and grain (a hallmark of c-j's latest electronics). The ARC has particularly excellent grip, definition, power, and extension in the bass (very solid-state like here, albeit with tube color, texture, and bloom), setting a new standard for bass reproduction in my experience of tube amps. That said, the c-j duo was no slouch in the bass.

Both the c-j duo and the ARC one are superb examples of latter-day tube electronics, and I could live happily with either, although if push came to shove I would opt for the ARC, as I am a long-time fan of this marque.

Jon
He pretty much thinks they are both at the top of their game. If push comes to shove and he was made to pick, he would go with the ARC combo by a smidgeon but to be fair he has been a long-time ARC fan. Hope this is an interesting read for folks.

I was especially interested to read that he found the ARC combo to be a bit more tonally dense/rich than the CJ combo because the ARC sound has traditionally been more about open, airy, 3 dimensional but somewhat lean sound whereas CJ gear has been known for its tonal richness but it seems that CJ and ARC's most current offerings have been converging in terms of sonic attributes.
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