Audio Research Ref160M

[tima]

Is it really ARC if its not silver? ;-)

[Billion$Baby]

Looks MUCH better with the Orange colored tubes with the Black casing. Plenty of pictures on the net. Its a no-brainer if you ask me.

[j3brow]

Originally Posted by Bobvin

Well, I've sold off most everything I can that isn’t bolted down, and may be pulling the trigger very shortly. I remember speaking with Dave G. of ARC at a Music Matters event up in Seattle early this year. I was hoping they’d be showing the 160M’s but Dave said not quite ready for prime time, but that they really were a stunning improvement vs GS150. Add to this my longtime desire for a pair of ARC mono-blocks—there may be no turning back.

Now the question... in silver or black? Both would go well I think in my room? My REF10 is silver, my Rossini and Shunyata Triton are black. Maybe stick with ARC "natural" silver.

Hi Bob,

I can’t help you re:ARC but I see the pic you posted in the 160M thread. Beautiful room. Would you mind sharing the room dimensions? I’m planning a media room build at the moment but I don’t think my room can be as big as yours ..... your dimensions look ideal. I am unable to PM you, hence reason for off topic post. Cheers.

Jason

[Bobvin]

Hey Jason, the room dimensions are 29'2" X 16'7" X 9'7". The room, while rectangular in theory, was quite a challenge to work with.

[jakegt3]

Originally Posted by Bobvin

Hey Jason, the room dimensions are 29'2" X 16'7" X 9'7". The room, while rectangular in theory, was quite a challenge to work with.

Bob,

It looks as though you have to run long-ish interconnects from your preamp to power amp. What interconnects do you use and how long are they? I'm curious because I'm in the same boat where my amp is located in between the speakers and a good distance away from the rest of my electronics. I have the Ref 5SE and the maximum output load capacitance it tolerates is 1000 pF. I like to stay well below that with low capacitance interconnects if possible, but the longer the interconnect, the more the capacitance.

Very nice listening room BTW.

[Bobvin]

Originally Posted by jakegt3

Bob,

It looks as though you have to run long-ish interconnects from your preamp to power amp. What interconnects do you use and how long are they? I'm curious because I'm in the same boat where my amp is located in between the speakers and a good distance away from the rest of my electronics. I have the Ref 5SE and the maximum output load capacitance it tolerates is 1000 pF. I like to stay well below that with low capacitance interconnects if possible, but the longer the interconnect, the more the capacitance.

Very nice listening room BTW.

Thanks for the kind words wrt the room. As far as my interconnects go, I am using Transparent Gen5 Reference XL in a 20 ft run, calibrated for my pre-amp and amp.

[Sharp 1080]

Originally Posted by jakegt3

Bob,

It looks as though you have to run long-ish interconnects from your preamp to power amp. What interconnects do you use and how long are they? I'm curious because I'm in the same boat where my amp is located in between the speakers and a good distance away from the rest of my electronics. I have the Ref 5SE and the maximum output load capacitance it tolerates is 1000 pF. I like to stay well below that with low capacitance interconnects if possible, but the longer the interconnect, the more the capacitance.

Very nice listening room BTW.

Jakegt,

I wouldn't worry too much about it. For the record I thought the same. I am running 28 feet of Transparent Super balanced interconnects with no issues.

[Bobvin]

Ken Kessler has written about the new REF 160M in the latest edition of HiFi News. No online version as of yet.

[ariess]

It’s a great review. See attached.
IMG_0118.jpg

[ariess]

“...one of the finest amplifiers I have ever heard regardless of price.”

From lab testing, same power as GS150 but 13 dB lower noise (!!!) and wider S/N. Spends a lot of the write up on triode vs ultra linear mode. Prefers each for different music (triode is good for brass, edgy recordings and ultra linear for dynamic, transients, bass heavy).