Who is still loving an older ARC preamp or amp?

[tdh888]

Killahertz the Classic Series are really fantastic amps . Had a Classic 150 monoblocks from 2005 to 2016 and really love them . I should’nt have sold it . Some reliability issues during my early ownership but w/ the help of ARC factory they help my tech sort them out .

[George Prentice]

You know, this is the benefit of high end audio equipment... either upgrading incessantly or keeping it for a couple decades brings tremendous rewards. I remember buying a top rated (wildly pronounced outstanding and “high end”) Onkyo cassette tape deck around 1980 and then taking home an old first generation Nakamichi cassette deck... 6 or 7 years old. The Nakamichi simply blew the socks off the Onkyo... in comparison the old high end deck made the Onkyo sounded like a cheap plastic transistor radio. Absolutely no comparison. So began my journey into high end audio.

A used Audio Research LS5 was the center of my system for ten or fifteen years. What a wonderful journey it has been. I’m starting to dream about a pair of Audio Research 160M amps for my system.

[Mark J]

I have an SP-3a on the shelf. I need to update the caps in that one. It could probably use a new set of resistors and coupling caps. I put Clarity caps in one for a friend and really liked the improvement. The carbon comp resistors have to be long in tooth by now and many may have drifted. I don't know if I'm like those musicians that need to have new cc resistors replace the old ones of if metal film will work. I think more of the sonics of that preamp are from the design, not the old resistors.