Ref 5 SE - Over 400 hrs

[darkstar]

I just hit 600 hours and she is purring like a kitten. I am really happy with my choice as well.

Rich

[sanji]

Congrats Mike! I'm sure it sounds amazing. My REF 2 SE just hit 525hrs & it's humming.

[audiot servant]

Great to hear the investment in time is paying off Mike, over here you can't audition a REF 5SE with more than a handful of hours up on it as pretty much every shipment they get into Sydney seems to sell out within a matter of weeks.

Would genuinely be great to hear even more in depth on the REF 5SE if you can ever get away from listening to it to write more on it, though maybe if you can't break away from listening to it then that answers all the questions anyway

Graham

[Ritmo]

Thank you guys! Glad to see other Ref 5SE owners enjoying their ARC units as well.

I will take pictures of the 5SE at 411 hrs and post. Also, will post more comments as we get close to 500 and 600 hrs.


Mike

[TMcD]

Originally Posted by Ritmo

Thank you guys! Glad to see other Ref 5SE owners enjoying their ARC units as well.

I will take pictures of the 5SE at 411 hrs and post. Also, will post more comments as we get close to 500 and 600 hrs.




Mike

Great stuff Mike. Thanks, looking forward to your comments.

[BillK]

Originally Posted by sanji

Congrats Mike! I'm sure it sounds amazing. My REF 2 SE just hit 525hrs & it's humming.

Hmmm… you should get that fixed under warranty.

[Tomictime]

Loving the REF 5 SE as it continues to refine and bloom with 620 hours.

I think this pre is very high definition, hearing the details the Mac did not reproduce. Strings, Guitar, Piano, female voices are all sweet and not fatiguing..IF the source is Good. Eva live at Blues Alley is Magical - Massive image height and sounstange with Tall Trees in GA. Cowboy Junkies have never sounded more LIVE and in the room. Mid bass is a marvel. New Bonnie Raitt ....new Norah Jones all great...
I think my Jfet mac has better low bass but I have not rerun the Vandersteen bass setup...perhaps will do that and post is things change for the better...

[Ritmo]

Great Tomictime! I'm slowly working my way up to 600 hrs...hope to be there next month.

Mike

[jpspock]

Hi proud 5se owners. Mine isreaching 400h, with your experience, how many time did it take to burn in the new caps? What can i hope to hear as evolution till now to 600h and moreover? Great to share your experiences again.

Muscles from Brussels.

[NOLG4EVR]

I too am really enjoying my ref5 se. I was spoiled as my dealer graciously loaned me her demo unit while I was waiting for my new unit to be delivered. The demo had about 650 hours on it and sounded great. I had a mc 2300 pre in the system before and the ref5 se just was so much better imo. It just improved the speed, timing and pace of the music. It pairs very well with many different types of amps. I have tried several ss [krell, bryston, mc 601] with it and worked well with all of them. None of these were for my ears but all were good. I also tried the ref 250's for a few days and that combination was truly impressive. I nearly ordered the 250's but decided to stick with my mc275's for a while longer. They work wonderfully with the ref5 se. I now have my new unit and am approaching 200 hours. Been running both my cd player and tuner into it with the amps off to accelerate the process and am looking forward to reaching the 600 hour mark.