Incoming

[jpgr4blu]

The Ref 3 was better than its predecessors. The Ref 5 was better than the ref 3, the ref 5se was better still and the Ref 10 was better than that. The Ref 10 could not have been produced in 2005 when the Ref 3 came to the market. The Ref 10 was produced from things learned during production of the prior Refs. And so it was and will always be. I'm good with that. I won't change up my system for every incremental improvement--I will not replace my Ref 40 with a Ref 10. I will not replace my Sasha 1 with a Sasha 2. But when significant improvements are made, I will make the moves and be thankful that high end companies continue to search for and make improvements to increase their sales and my enjoyment of music.

[RLF]

Well stated and excellent advice!

[ferokills]

I like it without the meters..

[domby]

I received the following from Kalvin at ARC

"Audio Research will announce new SE versions of the REF75, 150 and Ref 250 in March that will take advantage of the improved sound of the KT150.

Also, SE upgrades for existing REF 75, 150 and 250 amplifiers will also be announced. Factory upgrades will be made available as our supplies of the KT150 increase.

[RLF]

domby, Thanks for the update. When I spoke with Kalvin last week he did not (or could not) divulge any information about upcoming KT-150 versions of the Reference series or upgrade paths for existing models.

[Harlequin]

Hmmmm, have ARC Central Politburo been busy!

Anyway, latest breaking news regarding the fabled SE upgrade May well be $7500 by this time tomorrow !!!!


" Spoke to Kal today. He told me it was ok to put KT-150s into the Ref 150. Hallelujah ... Moschiach has arrived.

But wait ... there's more. The cost to upgrade the Ref 150 to the SE grade is $5000. Of course, that includes all new tubes --- KT-150s and 6H30s.

Kal said the objective of the SE upgrade is to tune the amp to take full advantage of the benefits of the KT-150 tube. Kal added that the improvement is on the order of going from the Ref 5 to the Ref 5 SE.

Five grand is a lot of scratch! The Ref 5 SE upgrade was only $2500."

[MPS]

Originally Posted by max17

Unfortunately he did not mention the other models. Per Priaptor's information the new Ref75se would be priced at $1,000 above current pricing. If this is the case I can't see there being any major structural changes made going from the Ref75 to the "se" version so I would expect the Ref75 to also be upgradeable imho.

Originally Posted by Harlequin

Hmmmm, I wonder whether ARC Central Politburo has been at work here?

Anyway, latest breaking news regarding the fabled SE upgrade
May well be $7500 by this time tomorrow !!!!

" Spoke to Kal today. He told me it was ok to put KT-150s into the Ref 150. Hallelujah ... Moschiach has arrived.

But wait ... there's more. The cost to upgrade the Ref 150 to the SE grade is $5000. Of course, that includes all new tubes --- KT-150s and 6H30s.

Kal said the objective of the SE upgrade is to tune the amp to take full advantage of the benefits of the KT-150 tube. Kal added that the improvement is on the order of going from the Ref 5 to the Ref 5 SE.

Five grand is a lot of scratch! The Ref 5 SE upgrade was only $2500."

REF150SE upgrade doesn't look quite so attractive as REF75SE, probably REF75SE upgrade is somewhere in the middle.

[Harlequin]

Originally Posted by MPS

REF150SE upgrade doesn't look quite so attractive as REF75SE, probably REF75SE upgrade is somewhere in the middle.

Quite, however At the princely sum of circa $625 Per socket, Ref250 owners may well be a weeping!

Ref750 SE anyone!

[2fastdriving]

That makes no sense, since the GS150 is likely better anyway (ARC sure thinks it is). So why not just go for that rather than spend another 5k on your old gear.

[Harlequin]

Originally Posted by 2fastdriving

That makes no sense, since the GS150 is likely better anyway (ARC sure thinks it is). So why not just go for that rather than spend another 5k on your old gear.

Indeed, Once one subtracts the cost of the ARC approved KT150's, the latest price hike certainly does make the substitution of an handful of caps and resistors seem eye-wateringly expensive, I suppose that prospective adopters are also being required to stump up for the R&D costings on this.

Considering that The Death Star have finally given of Carte Blanche, in regards to the retro fitting of the KT150, at $5K I rather suspect that a fair number of owners may well merely install a new set of OPT's and live with the difference, especially as the next generation of the Reference line sporting 150's may well be in R&D as we speak.

We're one to secure a favourable private sale or trade in, folks may also crunch the numbers and seriously consider instead, the viability of a New production SE model sporting a brand new 3 years factory warranty.