Audio Research REF 6 Preamp

slowikpl said:
I will get the Reference 6 on coming weekend. :yahoo1:Used and have only 100 hrs. on it. It will be first Audio Research product for me. It will be drive my Pass XA 160.5. I hoop it will be good synergy. No listening session first ( no dealer have then here) ;-/ I hope it will improve my Pass XP20 in some Tube- sweetness / more organic sound.

Does anybody knows how long will it take to break in ? According some sites 300 hrs. or 600+ hrs. :?
And have somebody data how big in uF – capacity are those gold capacitors ?
Click to expand...

Mine getting better after around 200hour, although it was nice sounding from start but now what I feel after 200 is more transparency and dynamic range, less distortion in high volume and better separation; It seems its just beginning to show its abilities! You will love it. Don't expect overly warm sound of tube; It is really very low coloration device, monitor class/ reference class preamplifier
 
slowikpl said:
I will get the Reference 6 on coming weekend. :yahoo1:Used and have only 100 hrs. on it. It will be first Audio Research product for me. It will be drive my Pass XA 160.5. I hoop it will be good synergy. No listening session first ( no dealer have then here) ;-/ I hope it will improve my Pass XP20 in some Tube- sweetness / more organic sound.

Does anybody knows how long will it take to break in ? According some sites 300 hrs. or 600+ hrs. :?
And have somebody data how big in uF – capacity are those gold capacitors ?
Click to expand...


Congrats! As another Pass owner, I would love to hear your thoughts once you have heard it. Keep us posted!
 
slowikpl said:
I will get the Reference 6 on coming weekend. :yahoo1:Used and have only 100 hrs. on it. It will be first Audio Research product for me. It will be drive my Pass XA 160.5. I hoop it will be good synergy. No listening session first ( no dealer have then here) ;-/ I hope it will improve my Pass XP20 in some Tube- sweetness / more organic sound.

Does anybody knows how long will it take to break in ? According some sites 300 hrs. or 600+ hrs. :?
And have somebody data how big in uF – capacity are those gold capacitors ?
Click to expand...

Many congrats! Exciting news... Mine is still burning in. I have a friend who said at 600 hours magic happens... So I'm waiting to get there myself. Hard to imagine it getting better.

It should outperform your XP-20 as for me it did so with my XP-30. Although the XP-30 is also amazing.
 
My experience has been that by the 400 hr point, ARC sound has stabilized and small improvements will continue until 600 hrs. Do not give up on the gear until it gets to 600 hrs. I've seen people be impatient and sell their ARC gear before it is operating at its full potential.

2 cents...
 
The piece of paper that comes in the box with your ARC Ref 6 says it takes 600 hours for full break in. It sounds great fresh out of the box so it's nothing to get your panties in a bunch over.
 
I think the person I bought my REF5SE from didn't let it burn in long enough. I think it sounds amazing, cannot imagine the REF6 being better.
 
nc42acc said:
I think the person I bought my REF5SE from didn't let it burn in long enough. I think it sounds amazing, cannot imagine the REF6 being better.
Click to expand...

:D I loved my Ref 5SE and thought it sounded great. I just had enough faith in ARC that the Ref 6 would be better since they rarely make missteps. Completely different circuit (poor man's Ref 10?) using 6 tubes instead of 4, beefier power supply as well as the power supply was redesigned. I have no regrets.
 
Hi all ,

I have now 2 days the ARC Ref6 Pre. This is only my opinion so it is my kind of putting in the paper wwhat I experience and compare with. And I must say I’m very impressed by this gear. I was always in love in Tube-sound. But the Tube -effect on some gear what I had listened to was little to slow and sometimes little to sweet to be lifelike reproduction of music. The ARC is never that kind of reproduction. From beginning of listening at 160 hrs on the timetable I was seduction and first hear love. The attack of the bass what I was afraid from tube- gear is sublime. The Bas is lighting fast and very differential. At highs more details stroke me first with the kind finesse that I can remember I first time audition my Aleph -X. Many many more air and effortless reproduction of the sound. Not like correct -sound like my Aleph XP20 , it is music with everything what is music about ! The mids tones are very fine and much meat on the bones. Far better than my old XP20. The XP20 I IMHO good gear for the recording – studio like reproduction. Nothing more than good and correct reproduction. And the ARC Ref6 is IMHO the gear that you forget that you listening to gear , the main importance is the music reproduction , and Thake the journey in to music. That’s what is for me most important.
At 181hrs the first 40 minutes ware ok , but nothing special. Harsh . I Think that this had to do with the Burn-in effect. I will now listen to it 4 full day`s to go asap to the 300 – 600hrs mark. I`m so exciting what will happen. I will report further at 300 hrs mark.
If you have some question feel free to ask.

What is little less that my Plexy-glass top cover have little band from the heat above the 6550 Tube. I have now applied some aluminum tape from the inside side and cut in the venting holes in it. I hope this wil solve the issue.


Today the sound is not that amazing like yesterday . I do not understand this. Could it be that at 190HRS the unit can be that night- day different?
 
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slowikpl said:
Hi all ,

I have now 2 days the ARC Ref6 Pre. This is only my opinion so it is my kind of putting in the paper wwhat I experience and compare with. And I must say I’m very impressed by this gear. I was always in love in Tube-sound. But the Tube -effect on some gear what I had listened to was little to slow and sometimes little to sweet to be lifelike reproduction of music. The ARC is never that kind of reproduction. From beginning of listening at 160 hrs on the timetable I was seduction and first hear love. The attack of the bass what I was afraid from tube- gear is sublime. The Bas is lighting fast and very differential. At highs more details stroke me first with the kind finesse that I can remember I first time audition my Aleph -X. Many many more air and effortless reproduction of the sound. Not like correct -sound like my Aleph XP20 , it is music with everything what is music about ! The mids tones are very fine and much meat on the bones. Far better than my old XP20. The XP20 I IMHO good gear for the recording – studio like reproduction. Nothing more than good and correct reproduction. And the ARC Ref6 is IMHO the gear that you forget that you listening to gear , the main importance is the music reproduction , and Thake the journey in to music. That’s what is for me most important.
At 181hrs the first 40 minutes ware ok , but nothing special. Harsh . I Think that this had to do with the Burn-in effect. I will now listen to it 4 full day`s to go asap to the 300 – 600hrs mark. I`m so exciting what will happen. I will report further at 300 hrs mark.
If you have some question feel free to ask.

What is little less that my Plexy-glass top cover have little band from the heat above the 6550 Tube. I have now applied some aluminum tape from the inside side and cut in the venting holes in it. I hope this wil solve the issue.


Today the sound is not that amazing like yesterday . I do not understand this. Could it be that at 190HRS the unit can be that night- day different?
Click to expand...

Up and down until the break-in period is completed. Pretty typical. I heard a Ref 3 phonostage before the break-in period was completed and I thought it sounded pretty bad. Really thin and bright in the treble. Patience is the key.

Best,
Ken
 
Alpinist said:
Up and down until the break-in period is completed. Pretty typical. I heard a Ref 3 phonostage before the break-in period was completed and I thought it sounded pretty bad. Really thin and bright in the treble. Patience is the key.

Best,
Ken
Click to expand...

Thanks Ken. Today it sounded at 253 HRS really as you describe it. Degradation 100% So I don't listen to it before let's say 400HRS. Because it makes me nervous.

I have read somewhere that I can only pass the sound from source through the Preamplifier without turning the amplifiers on. Set the gain at 80 to quicken the burin-in period. Can someone else confirm that?
 
slowikpl said:
Thanks Ken. Today it sounded at 253 HRS really as you describe it. Degradation 100% So I don't listen to it before let's say 400HRS. Because it makes me nervous.

I have read somewhere that I can only pass the sound from source through the Preamplifier without turning the amplifiers on. Set the gain at 80 to quicken the burn-in period. Can someone else confirm that?
Click to expand...

You can but half volume should be sufficient.

Ken
 
I think the break-in period and the attendant changes people claim to hear are overblown. The Ref 6 sounds great fresh out of the box from the factory. If you think you shouldn't listen to it until you hit some magic number of hours on the meter because it's not going to sound very good, something is wrong between your ears and/or your system is hosed. Yes, there are subtle improvements as the hours roll by, but not the way some people portray them. Maybe I should start selling audiophile worry beads.
 
Hi Mep. I don't think that. The day before I know what I heard. It was great. And yesterday It was crazy. Sound was very hard , bright and without any finesse.
Today it was nothing special at all. I wil keep burning the preamp till it reaches at least the effect like 2 days before.
So I do think that now is like a roller coaster. And I will keep writing my experience during the burn in.
 
It makes me wonder about the quality of your electricity. Daytime vs. nighttime?
 
I agree. As a Ref 6 owner it sounds great out of the box. There's some variance as it burns in but nothing like you are describing - that's extreme. How's your electricity? Voltage spikes? Do you use a power conditioner?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Some Arc activity here, nice!

Im experiencing the exact same burn-in effects with my Ref 6, and im only around 100 hours.
I dont even believe in burn in, but its pretty extreme.

Sound was exceptional for the first 60-70 hours, but has changed to one dimensional, overly bright (vocals) and seems slower for the last couple of days.
 
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