#1
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Ref 110
I am picking up a used Ref 110 on Sat.
It will be my first tube amplifier and I am excited to try it out relative to the Levinson. My Vandersteen dealer is also an ARC dealer and they sure sound nice together in the store... Cheers
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Karl Listening Room (2 Channel): Vandersteen 5A speakers, Simaudio Moon Neo 400M Mono Block Amplifiers, Esoteric D-07X DAC (preamp) via Apple Mac Mini (Roon), Furman IT-Reference 20i Power Cond., Wireworld. Listening Room (HT Portion): Vandersteen VCC-5 Center, Vandersteen VSM Signature Surrounds, JL Audio CR1 Crossover, JL Audio f110 v2 Subwoofer, Marantz SR 5010 Receiver, Wireworld Office: KEF R500 Speakers; Sonos Amp fed by Roon Family Room: Monitor Audio Silver RX6 speakers, McIntosh MA6600 Integrated Amplifier, Pro-Ject RME 9.1 TT w/ Sumiko Blackbird MC Cart. |
#2
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Congrats Karl. I hope you like it. ARC and Vandersteen are generally good combos. Let us know what you think
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#3
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Karl, congratulations. The REF110 is a great amp. Owned one for several years and it is a fabulous amp. Does it have K120 tubes? Mine had the original 6550's and I upgrade to the KT120 tubes. I believe it was a worthy update although I know of some people that had tube problems after the upgrade. Never created problems for me. Enjoy the amp!
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Mac Mini 2012 SSD - Lampi Big 7 DAC - Oppo BDP 95 ARC Ref 10 preamp - ARC Ref 150SE amp MartinLogan CLX Art Speakers - MartinLogan Balanced Force 210 Subs - Shunyata Anaconda speaker cables & Interconnects - Shunyata DPC-6 / Triton v2 |
#4
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Cyril --- will do! My brain says solid state is the way to go, especially after comparing Stereophile measurements of class a solid state versus class a tubes, but I am blown away by the musicality and dimensionality every time I hear the Ref. 150 on the Vandy 5A Carbons at my local dealer. So, logic be damned, it is time for me to try tubes. :-)
One question for you, actually: you note the HRS Nimbus isolation system in your signature, have you found that tube gear like the Ref. 110 is susceptible to vibration induced sonic changes? My audio rack is what you might call "corner loaded" and I am pretty sure it sees some serious bass over there.
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Karl Listening Room (2 Channel): Vandersteen 5A speakers, Simaudio Moon Neo 400M Mono Block Amplifiers, Esoteric D-07X DAC (preamp) via Apple Mac Mini (Roon), Furman IT-Reference 20i Power Cond., Wireworld. Listening Room (HT Portion): Vandersteen VCC-5 Center, Vandersteen VSM Signature Surrounds, JL Audio CR1 Crossover, JL Audio f110 v2 Subwoofer, Marantz SR 5010 Receiver, Wireworld Office: KEF R500 Speakers; Sonos Amp fed by Roon Family Room: Monitor Audio Silver RX6 speakers, McIntosh MA6600 Integrated Amplifier, Pro-Ject RME 9.1 TT w/ Sumiko Blackbird MC Cart. |
#5
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Quote:
I am finding that I love the journey aspect of this audiophile equipment thing almost as much as I love the music itself. I can try the K120s down the road. In a nutshell, how would you say the K120s changed the sound? Cheers
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Karl Listening Room (2 Channel): Vandersteen 5A speakers, Simaudio Moon Neo 400M Mono Block Amplifiers, Esoteric D-07X DAC (preamp) via Apple Mac Mini (Roon), Furman IT-Reference 20i Power Cond., Wireworld. Listening Room (HT Portion): Vandersteen VCC-5 Center, Vandersteen VSM Signature Surrounds, JL Audio CR1 Crossover, JL Audio f110 v2 Subwoofer, Marantz SR 5010 Receiver, Wireworld Office: KEF R500 Speakers; Sonos Amp fed by Roon Family Room: Monitor Audio Silver RX6 speakers, McIntosh MA6600 Integrated Amplifier, Pro-Ject RME 9.1 TT w/ Sumiko Blackbird MC Cart. |
#6
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From memory deeper and tighter bass. The tube also increased the power to about 140 W but power in the 110 was enough so that in itself may not be an advantage (depending on your setup and needs).
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Mac Mini 2012 SSD - Lampi Big 7 DAC - Oppo BDP 95 ARC Ref 10 preamp - ARC Ref 150SE amp MartinLogan CLX Art Speakers - MartinLogan Balanced Force 210 Subs - Shunyata Anaconda speaker cables & Interconnects - Shunyata DPC-6 / Triton v2 |
#7
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Couldn't wait until Sat. and picked up tonight. Apologies for the horrible iphone pic. First impression: VERY different than the Levinson.
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Karl Listening Room (2 Channel): Vandersteen 5A speakers, Simaudio Moon Neo 400M Mono Block Amplifiers, Esoteric D-07X DAC (preamp) via Apple Mac Mini (Roon), Furman IT-Reference 20i Power Cond., Wireworld. Listening Room (HT Portion): Vandersteen VCC-5 Center, Vandersteen VSM Signature Surrounds, JL Audio CR1 Crossover, JL Audio f110 v2 Subwoofer, Marantz SR 5010 Receiver, Wireworld Office: KEF R500 Speakers; Sonos Amp fed by Roon Family Room: Monitor Audio Silver RX6 speakers, McIntosh MA6600 Integrated Amplifier, Pro-Ject RME 9.1 TT w/ Sumiko Blackbird MC Cart. Last edited by kfr01; 05-17-2013 at 10:56 PM. |
#8
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Hmmm, "different" could be good or bad…
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#9
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Quote:
Have you checked the tube bias? Really important for sound and tube life.
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VPI Scoutmaster; JMW-9 Signature; Shelter 7000 Bryston BDA2 + BDP2; ARC PH5; ARC Ref 5; ARC Ref 150, Equi=Tech Son of Q Wilson Sophia 3; Transparent - cables XLO - cables; Aural Symphonics - cords; Shunyata - cords |
#10
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BillK:
In this case different is really just that. Both amplifiers have serious strengths, and they are just different. I'll describe more after I do more listening this weekend, but some of the differences in a nutshell: ARC Ref. 110 -- musicality in spades; a touch bloomy in the bass; wonderful sense of dimensional spacing; it sings through the highs; more kind to less than perfect recordings; romantic. Levinson -- neutrality in spades; very tight bass; incredible speed and clarity; analytical nature creates brilliant reproduction when the recording is quality, but can be tough on bad recordings.
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Karl Listening Room (2 Channel): Vandersteen 5A speakers, Simaudio Moon Neo 400M Mono Block Amplifiers, Esoteric D-07X DAC (preamp) via Apple Mac Mini (Roon), Furman IT-Reference 20i Power Cond., Wireworld. Listening Room (HT Portion): Vandersteen VCC-5 Center, Vandersteen VSM Signature Surrounds, JL Audio CR1 Crossover, JL Audio f110 v2 Subwoofer, Marantz SR 5010 Receiver, Wireworld Office: KEF R500 Speakers; Sonos Amp fed by Roon Family Room: Monitor Audio Silver RX6 speakers, McIntosh MA6600 Integrated Amplifier, Pro-Ject RME 9.1 TT w/ Sumiko Blackbird MC Cart. |
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