New ARC Reference system

[KahunaCanuck]

Congrats on a beautiful new system Serge!

Stunning...and I am sure the sound is pretty good too!!

Mike

Originally Posted by PHC1

Thank you! I was leaning towards the black but changed my mind last minute. I could easily do either though.

Looks best in silver!!!
I want to come back as Serge in my next life!!!

[f1 fan]

Originally Posted by dpod4

Looks best in silver!!!
I want to come back as Serge in my next life!!!

+1...

Dave

Sent from my iPhone using A.Aficionado

[Ritmo]

Congratulations Serge! The system looks stunning. And, I'm sure it sounds terrific.

Mike

[Dafos]

Hi, just one question to anyone on this thread. There seems to be two versions of the ref 250, one with a small pcb containing 3 yellow caps mounted on top of what I believe are electrolytic power supply caps, but the photo of the ref 250 subject of this thread does not show this board. Why this discrepancy? As the owner of a ref anniversary and ref 150, I can only affirm the great synergy between these latest generation of ARC gear. My only reservation is the downright crude round headed, silver colored philip screws supplied when one specifies the plexiglass top cover!

[cmalak]

Originally Posted by PHC1

The new system is in the house!

I picked up the components today and after the somewhat time consuming task of removing all the covers off to install the tubes and buttoning everything back down, the system consisting of the new Reference 250's, 40th Anniversary preamp and Reference 2 phono stage was finally sitting on a rack ready to play. After letting the tubes warm up for 30 min, as per the manual, I checked the bias of the Ref250s and the KT120s and found one amp to be quite a bit off. A quick adjustment brought the bias back into the target zone and I let the music continue to play for another 45 min to fully warm up before coming back down to have a listen.

WOW! The system has only 3 hours on it, I can already say this, if the sound doesn't change at all after break in, I'll be very, very satisfied. If the sound does change for the better after the full break in, well.... I will be simply blown away.

Either the 40th Anniv. preamp is that much better or the new KT120s of the REF250s are that much different but I can say that I am even more impressed with what I am hearing out of the box than I did with the REF5 and 210s with 1200 hrs on them. The synergy between the new components is incredible. Simply gorgeous sound. I am hearing exactly what I was hoping to achieve out of this and these top notch ARC components exceeded my expectations with only a few hours on the clock!

I am also very happy with the way the REF250's look in person. I wasn't 100% on that but now that they are here, I like them a lot! The bluish meters are elegant and understated.

I'll play around with it more and get into more details as the break in progresses.

Here are some nudies for you guys to enjoy as well as a video in full 1080P.

Serge...super congrats on the ARC Reference set-up. Looks maaahvelous I am sure it sounds sublime Looking forward to hear more about it as it breaks in

[PHC1]

Plumbed the REF system today with Transparent Reference cables throughout. Courtesy of my dealer and Transparent who tuned them for my components and speakers. Holy Sh*t!!! I've never heard such a profound difference before and I am no stranger to Transparent products. The ARC took on to these cables with explosive dynamics, slamming, super deep and articulate bass that drop kicks me in the gut. Superb imaging and focus and an even wider and deeper, much more holographic soundstage. More detailed but still smooth, musical presentation and an even creamier midrange as well as silkier top end. There is definitely more air and a deeper, blacker background. My vinyl rig sounds like it was replaced all together. The ARC REF system sounds like a true REF system should. Incredible.

The ARC REF and REF transparent are made for each other. Of course at these prices, they better evoke a Holy Sh*t response, not just Holy $hit... I better tighten up my belt, there is no way I can let go of all this new found level of performance! I also can't believe how much performance is left on the table when not using cables that uncork the whole system like this. It's like buying and driving a Ferrari only to discover it was running on 7 instead of 8 cylinders and then experiencing the true performance capability for the first time.

[chessman]

Serge, that is awesome! Congrats!

[jwhite613]

Serge... Congratulations!! Must make deciding which system to listen to even harder.

[Audio 1]

Serge .... Really proves how important cables and cable synergy is.
Just shows how much more is left undiscovered without matching reference level cables with a reference calibur system.

Enjoy it to the max, but I know you will.
Now how about some pictures of those beautifully massive cables!