Differences between Ref 250 and Ref 250SE

[rscotth]

Ref250SE

Just burning them in!

[kngale1]

Originally Posted by nonesup

Frankly 5,500 € who asked for the update, I found them too much money. That made him give a chance to listen to the new Constellation 1.0 Stereo, and although I still find the great amplifier Ref 150 , the Constellation is in my house for 3 months .

nonesup, do you have experience with Constellation 1.0 Preamp?

I vacationed 5 days in Barcelona. Beautiful city, excellent Paella, wine and relatively inexpensive.

[triode12]

Originally Posted by rscotth

Ref250SE

Just burning them in!

Thanks for posting the pics.

It looks as though your units have the TRT coupling caps instead of the new hybrid caps. Did you buy your units new or were they upgraded from 250s?

BTW - what brands of racks those? They look good.

[nonesup]

Originally Posted by kngale1

nonesup, do you have experience with Constellation 1.0 Preamp?

I vacationed 5 days in Barcelona. Beautiful city, excellent Paella, wine and relatively inexpensive.

Experience really, no.
I did an audition in Imacustica Lisbon (in Spain no importer Constellation) of Ref 150 SE, and Inspiration 1.0 Stereo.
They had prepared two preamplifier for testing:
Inspiration 1.0 and Ref-10 (they did not have, my Ref 5 SE)
Initially, I heard the Inspiration, but as my goal was the amp, I asked to be moved quickly to Ref. 10
My next purchase will probably be the speakers, but when you change the
preamp, if I do a very attentive listener Ref 6 and Inspiration.

[rscotth]

Originally Posted by triode12

Thanks for posting the pics. It looks as though your units have the TRT coupling caps instead of the new hybrid caps. Did you buy your units new or were they upgraded from 250s? BTW - what brands of racks those? They look good.

I upgraded from 250 to 250se. The rack is custom from my dealer. Amp support are HRS!

[Harlequin]

A mean and purposeful looking rig that you have there rscotth. If I may inquire, Did you run your incumbant 250's through the SE upgrade program or are they brand spanking new SE builds?

[rscotth]

Originally Posted by Harlequin

A mean and purposeful looking rig that you have there rscotth. If I may inquire, Did you run your incumbant 250's through the SE upgrade program or are they brand spanking new SE builds?

Sent the 250's back to ARC for the SE upgrade. Turnaround was 5 weeks. Had a DS450 as a loaner from my dealer. Glad to have them back home. 15 hours, thus far.

[triode12]

Originally Posted by rscotth

Sent the 250's back to ARC for the SE upgrade. Turnaround was 5 weeks. Had a DS450 as a loaner from my dealer. Glad to have them back home. 15 hours, thus far.

Did you notice an immediate difference once you fired up the SEs?

[rscotth]

Originally Posted by triode12

Did you notice an immediate difference once you fired up the SEs?

The midrange and top end has better micro detail. The bottom end was a bit on the thin side until I hit 10 hours. Now the bass has much better control than the non SE. I'm sure it'll get much better with more time. Only 25 hours, so I'm thinking 100-250 there will be greater improvement across the board. Runs much warmer with the KT150's. Sweet sound and I'm very pleased, overall, I made the SE upgrade.

[Harlequin]

Originally Posted by rscotth

The midrange and top end has better micro detail. The bottom end was a bit on the thin side until I hit 10 hours. Now the bass has much better control than the non SE. I'm sure it'll get much better with more time. Only 25 hours, so I'm thinking 100-250 there will be greater improvement across the board. Runs much warmer with the KT150's. Sweet sound and I'm very pleased, overall, I made the SE upgrade.

Whilst I traversed a somewhat different path Scott, in moving to 250SE's from my previous non SE'd 150, I was suprised and delighted by how well the 250's sounded squeaky brand new right out of the box.

Curious as to why ARC retained your Rev2 Gold 2uF coupling caps Scott? as I was informed the new white capacitors were an integral componant in the new SE build or upgrade. Either way It is nice to hear that you are delighted with your new amps