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Audio Research State of the Art Audio Reproduction |
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#1
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Factory upgrade for the ARC REF 250 to 250SE?
My ARC REF 250s have close to 1600 hours and I will eventually replace the original KT120 tubes with the KT150 tubes. I have a couple of options: one is to just replace the tubes; the other is to return the monoblocks to ARC and have them do the full upgrade to the latest 250SE with new tubes. The cost difference is about $7K ($9K for the full factory mod v. $2K for just the tubes).
Has anyone sent these back to the factory for this upgrade? How does the sound quality of the 250SE compare to the 250 with KT150's? How about the difference between the stock 250 with KT120 and the 250 with KT150? Any other thoughts? Thanks in advance for your thoughts. Last edited by lem321; 09-12-2015 at 10:25 PM. |
#2
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I plan on sending my REF250's back to ARC for the full upgrade. I haven't heard the 250 upgrade, but I did hear the ref75 upgrade and there was a significant boost in bass weight and articulation.
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Florida Dan D'Agostino Momentum HD Preamp Dan D'Agostino Momentum Phono Preamp Dan D'Agostino Momentum M400 MxV x 3 Dan D'Agostino Momentum S250 dCS Vivaldi Apex DAC dCS Vivaldi Upsampler dCS Vivaldi Clock Wilson Audio Alexia 2, Yvette & Mezzo REL No.32 x 2 REL Carbon Special x 2 AVID Acutus Ref SP, Roon Nucleus+ McIntosh MX151, MVP881 HRS SXR Signature Audio Stand Transparent Gen5Ref throughout! New York Dan D'Agostino Momentum HD Preamp Dan D'Agostino Momentum M400 MxV x 2 dCS Rossini Dac dCS Rossini Clock Wilson Audio Alexia 2 REL No.25 x 2 Roon Nucleus+ Transparent Gen5Ref throughout! |
#3
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I would do the SE upgrade. In addition to the tubes, the amps would be upgraded to the new version of the series. Yes, it is quite a bit of money but if you can afford it, go for it.
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Mike |
#4
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The KT-120 in my ref 250 had 3,000 hours and I decided to buy the KT-150 (U$ 1,700.00) instead of the SE upgrade. The improvement was much better than I was expecting. The soundstage got wider and more 3D like, I hear more details, the bass has more punch but controlled, overall is more like a live show. It was not just a slight improvement, it was really impressive, it didn't take me more than 10 sec to realise this was the best upgrade I've done.
I haven't had a chance to listen to a ref 250se, so I can't do a comparison between the two, but I hope i will do it soon. If the tube upgrade alone can deliver more than 50% of the SE improvement than I probably did the right thing. If what I'm experiencing now is just a fraction of the SE upgrade, then I would happily do the upgrade because it would really worth it.
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Speakers: Magico S5 Pre-amps and Amps:Audio Research Ref Phono 2 SE, Ref 5 SE, Ref 250 (the magnificent trio) Sources: Pro-ject 10.1 W/ Skala, Oppo bdp-95, Mac Mini & Bel Canto DAC1.5 Cables: SC and IC: Shunyata Zitron Anaconda; PC:Shunyata Zitron Python Power Conditioners: RGPC Substation, RGPC 1200 C, Shunyata Cyclops |
#5
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Anyone upgrade Ref 250 to Ref 250SE
Bumping an old thread:
Has anyone done the ARC factory upgrade from the original Ref 250 to the Ref 250SE? Any thoughts? Thanks. |
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