Amps used with Ref 5 SE

[cmalak]

On paper, McIntosh and Pass amps would not be my first choice with ARC pres. All ARC pres are recommended to drive a minimum 20Kohm load and the input impedance on the McIntosh and Pass amps tend to be in the 20-30Kohm range. I have read some commentary that suggests the combination of ARC Ref pres and McIntosh amps resulted in less defined and wooly bass. which could be a result of an impedance mismatch for sure. Others as has been mentioned above have successfully mated ARC pres with Mac and Pass amps.

Like one of the previous posters said, audition first in your system before you buy if you can. By the way, Vandies and ARC amps have been a perennial pairing and have tended to sound good. The Vandies may not be very sensitive so you may not be able to drive them to concert level SPLs but they tend to be easy loads in terms of their impedance curves and not too hard for tube amps to drive. My bet is a Ref 150 would be more than adequate to drive a Vandy 5A.

[dminches]

Originally Posted by cmalak

On paper, McIntosh and Pass amps would not be my first choice with ARC pres. All ARC pres are recommended to drive a minimum 20Kohm load and the input impedance on the McIntosh and Pass amps tend to be in the 20-30Kohm range. I have read some commentary that suggests the combination of ARC Ref pres and McIntosh amps resulted in less defined and wooly bass. which could be a result of an impedance mismatch for sure. Others as has been mentioned above have successfully mated ARC pres with Mac and Pass amps. Like one of the previous posters said, audition first in your system before you buy if you can. By the way, Vandies and ARC amps have been a perennial pairing and have tended to sound good. The Vandies may not be very sensitive so you may not be able to drive them to concert level SPLs but they tend to be easy loads in terms of their impedance curves and not too hard for tube amps to drive. My bet is a Ref 150 would be more than adequate to drive a Vandy 5A.

Thanks for your comments. My dealer has said the same thing about matching the impedance loads. In addition to the ARC amps he said that the Ayre amps match very well too. Those are the ones I am going to audition.

[roboss38]

I have my Reference 5 SE paired with a Rogue Audio Stereo 100 tube amp. It is a wonderful sounding combination with great synergy between the two components.

[audio bill]

Originally Posted by roboss38

I have my Reference 5 SE paired with a Rogue Audio Stereo 100 tube amp. It is a wonderful sounding combination with great synergy between the two components.

The Rogue Stereo 100 amp is a great piece and an unbelievable value for a tube power amp that is made in the US. You've got a very nice system, enjoy it!

[jpspock]

Do you think I have a problem of impedance to drive the sasha, with my ref5se and pass xa100.5? Absolutely not. Both are great matching and I prefered this combo compared with ref5se and ref 150...

[stock78]

I run my Ref5SE with a pair of Krell 400E. Excellent!
I preferred it over combining Ref 5SE with Pass Labs XA-600!

[darkstar]

Originally Posted by ctop

I'm using the ref 5se with a Lamm M1.2 reference

Me too.

[JCR]

Originally Posted by cmalak

On paper, McIntosh and Pass amps would not be my first choice with ARC pres. All ARC pres are recommended to drive a minimum 20Kohm load and the input impedance on the McIntosh and Pass amps tend to be in the 20-30Kohm range. I have read some commentary that suggests the combination of ARC Ref pres and McIntosh amps resulted in less defined and wooly bass. which could be a result of an impedance mismatch for sure. Others as has been mentioned above have successfully mated ARC pres with Mac and Pass amps.

First in reply to the original post, my dad actually has a REF 5SE for his REF 150 ARC amps and it is certainly a great match.

Now, regarding the McIntosh and ARC mix and match of pre-amp and amp, I thought I would share my experience since until recently I owned but an amp and a pre-amp from both manufacturer. When I had my REF10 pre-amp, I used it to drive my REF 750 with good result - no surprise there. Once I added a McIntosh SS amp to my system, I first started to use the REF10 to drive my MC1.2KW. It worked OK but it was clear that the sound was getting compressed because of the mismatch of impedance as suggested by cmalak. I quickly concluded that the ARC pre-amp may not be the best match for my MAC amplifier.

So I got the C1000T Mac pre-amp. Of course the match of the C1000T with the MC1.2kw was much better and more fluid because they were "made" for each other! The big surprise was how good the C1000T was with my REF750s amplifiers. My intent is not to compare the MAC and ARC pre-amp here but:

1- trying to match ARC pre-amp with a McIntosh amp - I would not recommend it!

2- trying to match a McIntosh pre-amp with ARC amplifier - GO FOR IT! I actually found my 750s to have more bass with the MAC pre-amp as they did with the ARC pre-amp...

My two cents, in case it helps anyone...Jacques

P.S.: I since then sold my REF10 to only keep the C1000T as a pre-amp in my setup because it worked perfectly with both of my amplifiers...

[cma29]

Originally Posted by stock78

I run my Ref5SE with a pair of Krell 400E. Excellent! I preferred it over combining Ref 5SE with Pass Labs XA-600!

Interesting. I wonder if the Pass Labs class-A amps like the XA160s would have been a better match.

[2fastdriving]

I tried my MC452 with my Ref5SE before I sold it and bought a Ref75. In my mind, McIntosh power amps are not a good match with ARC pre's. It's not "bad", but not ideal. I lost some bass definition. IMHO.