REF110 Cooling Fans

[mg87]

Elberoth - I got you PM about the Noctua and almost bought those (NF-R8). I only didn't for two reasons: 1. I watched a demo video and they have a Low Noise adaper and an ultra low noise adapter to reach the low setting of 800rpm via a tach wire. I wasn't sure if this would play well with the ARC dip switches since, I believe this is a voltage regulator used as the RPM selection.
2. The color, yeah I know :-) If the Nexus doesn't drive it down enough, I'll see how those work.

I thought the silicone screws would make a difference but all the suggestions let me know how important they are. The kit comes with them and I ordered 8 more as well as a soft silicone spacer for the fan frame. Not sure about that due to tube/fan clearance.

[mg87]

Originally Posted by cmalak

mg87...what speakers are you driving with the 110s? Just curious. Thx

Sonus Faber Elipsa

[cmalak]

Originally Posted by mg87

Sonus Faber Elipsa

ooops sorry....just realized you had mentioned that in your opening post

[mg87]

Originally Posted by cmalak

mg87...what speakers are you driving with the 110s? Just curious. Thx

Here's the whole picture:

Oppo-95, Mac Mini, Bel Canto 3.5vbs mk2 with REFLINK DAC/Pre, ARC REF110, Oyaide terminated Acrolink a/c cables, Custom solid silver speaker cables, AQ Eagle eye dig coax, AQ Coffee USB, Bogdan XLR to amp and Sonus Faber Elipsa.

Sounds great!

[mg87]

Originally Posted by cmalak

ooops sorry....just realized you had mentioned that in your opening post

I am super curious about your ARC REF stack into Thiel. I had a set of Thiel 3.6 in the 1990's (i think that's the date range-right when they replaced the 3.5)- Loved them. It was in a Levinson stack and rotated some McIntosh through.

[cmalak]

Originally Posted by mg87

I am super curious about your ARC REF stack into Thiel. I had a set of Thiel 3.6 in the 1990's (i think that's the date range-right when they replaced the 3.5)- Loved them. It was in a Levinson stack and rotated some McIntosh through.

mg87...I started out with Musical Fidelity A5 inegrated amp and CD player with my Thiel 2.4s. The MF integrated was 250 wpc into 8ohms and 500 wpc into 4ohms. The orthodoxy with Thiel speakers is you need high power, and more importantly, high current amps given their difficult load (the 2.4s for example, stay below 4 ohms for most of the frequency spectrum). To my ears, my initial combo sounded super resolving and presented a wide soundstage with precise imaging, but, over time, listener fatigue set in as the treble region always seemed spotlit.

I tried Simaudio i7 integrated and the P7/W7 separates and that was a big step up. Very neutral and made my Thiel 2.4s sing but was still missing something.

I finally tried out the ARC LS-26 pre with Ref 110 amp and the Ref CD7 and it clinched it for me. Timbres were very natural. Soundstaging was 3-dimensional and engulfing (the Thiels pull a disappearing act like very few speakers). Dynamic punch was still there (although this is one area which is not exactly Thiel speakers forte). The only thing that probably took a minor step back was the bass, which did not go quite as low as with the SS amps but it was still punchy and resolving. A year after the LS-26, I tried out the Ref 3 and that gave me more of everything I described above.

I will say that I do not listen to music above 90dB most of the time (usually I listen at 70-80 db), so I am sure if I were to really open up the spigot, the Ref 110 on very dynamic material may strain a little bit to drive the Thiel 2.4s, but practically for my size room (14'X20') and my listening levels, the Ref 110s have not had any problems driving the speakers.

Hope I didn't bore you with my Thiel/ARC description

PS: You have a wonderful set-up. Enjoy!

[mg87]

cmalak - Thanks for the description, sounds like a great combo! Thanks for compliment - I am very happy but with all things audiophile, I am looking forward to the REF DAC Media Bridge exposure. Although my hand my tremble as I write the check :-)

[cmalak]

Originally Posted by mg87

cmalak - Thanks for the description, sounds like a great combo! Thanks for compliment - I am very happy but with all things audiophile, I am looking forward to the REF DAC Media Bridge exposure. Although my hand my tremble as I write the check :-)

Let us know what you think when you get it. Thx

[Elberoth]

1. Get those soft silicone fan mounts. The metal screws will short the fan to the chassis, and will transmit all the vibrations you want to kill.

2. Look for the softest mounts you could find. Noctua provides some with their fans, but they are way to stiff IMO.

3. The silicone spacer is not necessary at all - in fact, you may not be able to fit it, and if you do, the silicone mounts may and up beeing stretched too far.

4. The LNA/ULNA attenuators is compatible with ARC fan switch. With the ULNA attenuator in place, the fan may not start with the low setting though. The LNA attentuator should work on all speed settings.

5. If you decide to go with the LNA/ULNA attenuators on top of the ARC fan switch, always make sure that the fan will start. Do not try various speeds with the fan spinning, as that will not tell you the whole story. The fan requires less power to sustan operation, than to start spinning. It may happen, that the fan will be spinning when you turn the fan speed switch to low position, but then it will not be able to start by itself. To make sure, always switch on and off the amp at least twice, to see if the fans have enough power to start working.

[mg87]

Thanks Elberoth! I called the retailer and discussed the ULNA/LNA attenuators earlier today. Your comments are right on target and confirm what the tech support provided. I am getting less nervous about the fan upgrade and starting to get excited about the change-out. I got a more clear understanding of the (lack of) importance of the "tach" wire. Since the ARC only has black and red wires, it was unclear what the yellow does. It shouldn't impact the install.