Audio Research REF 6 Preamp

**highEndguy** · October 18, 2015, 11:02 AM

**microstrip** · October 18, 2015, 11:35 AM

Originally Posted by Mike

I bet it's amazing.

I have to say, I think the GS150 is one of the greatest amps I've ever heard. One of those amps that comes along once every 10 years or so. One of those amps that is so good, even the designers can't believe how good it turned out.

ARC is really on a roll lately. Good on them. Every piece of ARC gear I've ever owned, has been world class - regardless of price.

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Yes, the GS150 sounds great. But the GS preamplifier was not good enough to extract its full potential - I listened to the GS150 with the REF5SE and the GS preamplifier and the difference was very large. Now with the REF6 SE everything seems in place.

Do we have any picture of the inside of the REF6 SE?

**joeinid** · October 18, 2015, 11:39 AM

Originally Posted by microstrip

Yes, the GS150 sounds great. But the GS preamplifier was not good enough to extract its full potential - I listened to the GS150 with the REF5SE and the GS preamplifier and the difference was very large. Now with the REF6 SE everything seems in place.

Do we have any picture of the inside of the REF6 SE?

That's great to read.

**mep** · October 18, 2015, 11:40 AM

Originally Posted by microstrip

Yes, the GS150 sounds great. But the GS preamplifier was not good enough to extract its full potential - I listened to the GS150 with the REF5SE and the GS preamplifier and the difference was very large. Now with the REF6 SE everything seems in place.

Do we have any picture of the inside of the REF6 SE?

Pictures of the inside have been posted and it's not the Ref 6SE. It's just the Ref 6 for now.

**madfloyd** · October 18, 2015, 12:33 PM

So ARC went from the REF 5(SE) to REF 10 and now back to REF 6? REF 10 is still their flagship (being dual box)?

**Frank750** · October 18, 2015, 12:45 PM

Originally Posted by madfloyd

So ARC went from the REF 5(SE) to REF 10 and now back to REF 6? REF 10 is still their flagship (being dual box)?

Ian, never mind ARC and their annual product improvement ala Magico, please explain your equipment signature?? Pass XA160.8 (left ch) XS150 (right ch) ????

**madfloyd** · October 18, 2015, 12:56 PM

Originally Posted by Frank750

Ian, never mind ARC and their annual product improvement ala Magico, please explain your equipment signature?? Pass XA160.8 (left ch) XS150 (right ch) ????

Just me being silly wondering who would notice. You win!

**La Dolce Vita** · October 18, 2015, 12:58 PM

Too funny!

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**mep** · October 18, 2015, 01:13 PM

Originally Posted by Frank750

Ian, never mind ARC and their annual product improvement ala Magico, please explain your equipment signature?? Pass XA160.8 (left ch) XS150 (right ch) ????

I have had my Ref 5SE for 19 months and it was on the market for sometime before I bought mine. The Ref 6 was just announced.

**microstrip** · October 18, 2015, 01:52 PM

Originally Posted by mep

Pictures of the inside have been posted and it's not the Ref 6SE. It's just the Ref 6 for now.

Surely, the ARC REF6

Can you post a link to the photos?

**mep** · October 18, 2015, 02:03 PM

Originally Posted by microstrip

Surely, the ARC REF6

Can you post a link to the photos?

https://www.theabsolutesound.com/art...-preamplifier/

**highEndguy** · October 18, 2015, 09:04 PM

The REF5 had like 3 or 4 year before becoming 5se
was not an only one year production PRE

Introduced
2009

Discontinued
2015

Revisions
REFFERENE 5 SE (2011)

**MDP** · October 19, 2015, 11:39 AM

Originally Posted by highEndguy

And there's also a new DAC coming

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You're such a tease Nelson!

**highEndguy** · October 19, 2015, 01:31 PM

Who me ?

:]

**Dpod4** · October 19, 2015, 09:26 PM

Sold my Air Tight ATE-2001 back to original owner - which beat every preamp I have ever tried. Going to try the ARC Ref 6 since I need the balanced connections.

**MDP** · October 20, 2015, 09:22 AM

Very cool Darrin! I'm sure you'll fill us in once you get it home.

**mep** · October 20, 2015, 04:34 PM

Originally Posted by MDP

Very cool Darrin! I'm sure you'll fill us in once you get it home.

The official release date is November right?

**highEndguy** · October 20, 2015, 04:55 PM

Yes, but to got them maybe early December

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**mep** · October 20, 2015, 05:15 PM

Originally Posted by highEndguy

Yes, but to got them maybe early December

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Just in time for Santy Claus.

**Dpod4** · October 21, 2015, 01:40 AM

My system is officially in disarray. Maggies being positioned on opposite wall. Preamps being switched out. Bass traps being purchased. Why oh why do I do this to myself?

**MDP** · October 21, 2015, 05:21 AM

Originally Posted by Dpod4

My system is officially in disarray. Maggies being positioned on opposite wall. Preamps being switched out. Bass traps being purchased. Why oh why do I do this to myself?

Good question! I think we all do it from time to time, but I have things the way I like them so I'm staying put.

Except for my new TT.

**Packfill** · October 24, 2015, 11:53 AM

An early post in this thread remarked that the new Ref6 was only $1000 more than the Ref5SE.

Am I the only one who believes that audio electronics, like most other manufactured/technology goods, should be going down in price over time and not up?

**joeinid** · October 24, 2015, 04:56 PM

Welcome to the forum Packfill, thank you for joining.

**Dpod4** · October 24, 2015, 09:43 PM

I think the Ref 6 is retailing at $14k. Given that it should be noticeably improved over the 5SE, closer to the Ref 10 (my dealer told me that it should be noticeably better than the ref 40 which was a little better than the Ref 5se). Given price of ref 10 I applaud arc for not being greedy and pricing it at $18-20k.

**Ritmo** · October 25, 2015, 07:39 AM

Excellent point. Given the excitement generated by the Ref 6 announcement, I would not be surprised to see ARC raise its price around CES.

**Dpod4** · October 29, 2015, 12:52 AM

Placed my order today.

**joeinid** · October 29, 2015, 01:08 AM

Originally Posted by Dpod4

Placed my order today.

Congratulations Darrin. I am sure it will be an awesome preamp.

**Paul** · October 29, 2015, 01:19 AM

Originally Posted by Dpod4

Placed my order today.

Congrats ! Are you going to pair with your Marantz ?

**MDP** · October 29, 2015, 08:10 AM

Congrats Darrin, I'm sure it will be a great piece.

**Dpod4** · October 29, 2015, 09:54 AM

Originally Posted by Paul

Congrats ! Are you going to pair with your Marantz ?

Yes, and use the balanced connection

**cmalak** · October 29, 2015, 10:09 AM

Congrats Darrin. Looking forward to your listening impressions. When are they saying it will start shipping and when are you expected to receive yours (if you know)?

**Dpod4** · October 29, 2015, 02:13 PM

Originally Posted by cmalak

Congrats Darrin. Looking forward to your listening impressions. When are they saying it will start shipping and when are you expected to receive yours (if you know)?

Shipping in November

**mep** · October 29, 2015, 05:27 PM

I have already been told that mine won't ship until January. November and December's production runs have already been sold.

**Ritmo** · October 30, 2015, 07:13 AM

Congratulations Darrin and Mark! I think the Ref 6 will be a winner for ARC.

**socfan12** · October 30, 2015, 08:07 AM

Congrats Darrin and Mark! Great choice, guys!

**BayStBroker** · October 30, 2015, 08:11 AM

Except for cosmetics and ergonomics, is there a good reason why not to put the power supply for a tubed preamp into a separate chassis?

**Mike** · October 30, 2015, 08:14 AM

Originally Posted by BayStBroker

Except for cosmetics and ergonomics, is there a good reason why not to put the power supply for a tubed preamp into a separate chassis?

Cost?

**cmalak** · October 30, 2015, 10:30 AM

Originally Posted by BayStBroker

Except for cosmetics and ergonomics, is there a good reason why not to put the power supply for a tubed preamp into a separate chassis?

Ref 10 is a two chassis preamp for ARC (also the Ref 10 phono) but as Mike said, they have opted to go with separate power supply chassis in their top end reference product at their premium price point because of the added cost. McIntosh, VAC, and a few others have similar product lineups with the two chassis (separating clean and dirty boxes) in their premium end preamp products.

**DaveC** · October 30, 2015, 01:38 PM

Originally Posted by BayStBroker

Except for cosmetics and ergonomics, is there a good reason why not to put the power supply for a tubed preamp into a separate chassis?

Cost and ergonomics is worse, and then you also have to deal with wiring between the two, which is not trivial. IMO a single larger chassis is better. It's not like the PTs and such can't be isolated within a single chassis if needed.

I did notice the AR Ref 6 has a bunch of big electrolytic caps in there, for the price I'd want a PS that uses film caps.

**BayStBroker** · October 31, 2015, 09:02 AM

I'm constantly surprised by how little detail super high-end preamplifier manufacturers provide about the volume control that they install. "A new volume control with finer step gradation and higher performance completes the system," is what ARC tells us. This sort of vague description makes a volume control seem like an afterthought. ARC is by no means unique in this regard. But the whole signal goes through the volume control and is constantly regulated by it! By contrast, Robert Koda makes a big deal of his hand-made attenuators.

**Dpod4** · November 7, 2015, 08:54 PM

Dealer told me my arc ref 6 should arrive end of December.

**mep** · November 7, 2015, 09:30 PM

Originally Posted by Dpod4

Dealer told me my arc ref 6 should arrive end of December.

Cool. Mine isn't supposed to arrive until sometime in January.

**Ritmo** · November 8, 2015, 09:09 AM

Congrats gentlemen!

**Deafone** · November 22, 2015, 01:49 PM

I see specs list a 6550C tube instead of the usual 6550WE. Wonder if that is a typo.

**Bifwynne** · November 22, 2015, 02:03 PM

Originally Posted by Deafone

I see specs list a 6550C tube instead of the usual 6550WE. Wonder if that is a typo.

Deafone ... ARC stopped using SED 6550 "winged C" tubes a while back. The reason is that the original Svetlana factory in St. Petersburg where the SED 6550Cs were made burned down several years ago. Another Russian tube manufacturer took over the name, but the new tubes are not the same quality. For some time, Upscale Audio wouldn't even sell old SED 6550 "winged C" tubes that were floating around the market because of quality issues. That may have changed. You'd have to call Kevin Deal at Upscale to get an update.

In the meantime, ARC moved on to Sovtek, which makes 6550 WE tubes. In fact, ARC sold me two new 6550 WE replacement tubes for my Ref 5 SE linestage and Ref CD-8 CDP.

Hope this helps.

BIF

**Alpinist** · February 17, 2016, 02:01 AM

I recently had a long audition of a system that included the ARC Ref 6. The Ref 6 sounded absolutely incredible. One of the best preamps I've ever heard (I've owned the Pass XP-30 and currently own the Soulution 520). The organic presentation, combined with the scale, dynamics, detail and nuance were amazing. In a word, wow!!!

Ken

**XV-1** · February 17, 2016, 05:58 AM

Originally Posted by Alpinist

I recently had a long audition of a system that included the ARC Ref 6. The Ref 6 sounded absolutely incredible. One of the best preamps I've ever heard (I've owned the Pass XP-30 and currently own the Soulution 520). The organic presentation, combined with the scale, dynamics, detail and nuance were amazing. In a word, wow!!!

Ken

Are you going to be able to try it in your system? that will be the true test.

**madfloyd** · February 17, 2016, 08:45 AM

Originally Posted by XV-1

Are you going to be able to try it in your system? that will be the true test.

Agreed. How was tonality/coloration?

What was the rest of the system that you heard it with?

**Alpinist** · February 18, 2016, 01:44 AM

[QUOTE=madfloyd;159687]Agreed. How was tonality/coloration?

Ian,

The tonality was very accurate with little coloration.

Ken

**Alpinist** · February 18, 2016, 01:57 AM

"Are you going to be able to try it in your system? that will be the true test."

Hi XV-1,

No plans to try one in my system at this time.

Best,
Ken

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