Ref 6 Has Arrived

Thanks Mark and the rest of the Shark Tank. Time will tell the tale. This is not a small, evolutionary step from the Ref 5SE based on my admittedly very limited listening time.
 
I've always loved the look of ARC gear!

You do know the joke why ARC never changes the look of their gear that my ex-wife brought up in her column in Stereophile??? :D So your spouse would never know you upgraded components! She did mention though like spouses were too dumb to notice that $5000 missing from the bank account! (At least when she penned that column probably 20 years ago!)
 
Myles B. Astor said:
I've always loved the look of ARC gear!

You do know the joke why ARC never changes the look of their gear that my ex-wife brought up in her column in Stereophile??? :D So your spouse would never know you upgraded components! She did mention though like spouses were too dumb to notice that $5000 missing from the bank account! (At least when she penned that column probably 20 years ago!)
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I had no idea you had an ex-wife or that she wrote a column in Stereophile... learn something new every day!
 
mep said:
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Congratulations Mark - now you a have to go through a 25 days burn-in phase.

BTW, I am astonished Myles did not comment that it looks like a conrad johnson packing!
 
MikeCh said:
Hi Mark,

Anything new to share with the Reference 6 break in?
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I will share a few more things :)

You really need to read the manual with the Ref 6. It comes with a programmable timer that was set by default from the factory to turn off the Ref 6 after 2 hours of not detecting any volume or input changes. I only found this out because I was playing my server through the system to help expedite break in and when I went downstairs to check on things, I noticed the Ref 6 was off. The first time I thought it was a fluke and powered it back up again. A few hours later I go back to check on it and it's turned off again. Now I think I have a problem with my brand new Ref 6. I break out the owner's manual and discover the programmable timer and how to set it with the remote. That's when I found it was set for 2 hours. You can change it from 1-8 hours or turn it off. I turned it off.

The Ref 6 is much more than just minor a upgrade to the Ref 5SE. The inputs are completely different on the back panel. The Ref 5SE has the RCA inputs stacked on top of the right channel's XLR connectors and on the bottom of the left channel's XLR connectors. The Ref 6 has the XLR and RCA inputs separate on the back panel and they are labeled separate on the remote as well. With the Ref 6, you have the ability to select names for each of your inputs. Again, this requires reading the owner's manual and using the remote to name your inputs. I will tell you that you need to be Johnny fast fingers on the remote when you are naming your inputs because if you hesitate during the steps, the preamp reverts back to the original name for the input (Bal 1, Bal 2, Bal 3, Bal 4, SE 1, SE 2, etc.). So now that you know that, you know that the remote is completely different than the Ref 5SE remote. And speaking of remote, you know that with the earlier Ref series you had a tube hour meter built in. With the Ref 6, you can set the hour meter back to zero when you install a new set of tubes if you are so inclined. This also allows for mischief on the part of a seller who claims the Ref 6 was only driven to church on Sunday by his dearly departed Grandmother.

And now for the sound: We all know the Ref 6 has a bigger power transformer, new power supply design, the line stage has been redesigned and has 6 tubes instead of 4, the volume pot has been changed, and the quality of the parts used has been upgraded over the Ref 5SE. Even though the gain specs haven't changed, I'm hard pressed to believe the Ref 6 doesn't have more gain. You will find yourself listening at much lower numbers on the digital read out for all of your sources and it will still sound louder and more powerful than the much higher numbers you used to listen to on the Ref 5SE. But that is only part of the story. The other part of the story is that I'm amazed and surprised at the difference the Ref 6 is making in my system. I told you all in my initial snapshot impression that I feel like I have a whole new system and not a preamp upgrade. I told you that if I was blindfolded when someone installed the Ref 6 and told me they swapped out my Ref 75 for a pair of killer monoblocks I would have believed it. Those initial impressions haven't changed. The Ref 6 has literally transformed my system for the better in every category we judge our systems and components. The Ref 6 simply sounds more like music and less like a really good system reproducing music.

I have no reservation telling anyone who owns a Ref 5 or Ref 5SE and was thinking about upgrading to the Ref 6 to take the plunge. I better save the rest of my thoughts for the review.
 
There is no doubt that the Ref 6 is an amazing preamp. It's my first ARC piece but I've heard ARC before. The Ref 6 has balls with a big sound and lots of air. I can't believe what a difference it has made in my system too.
 
joeinid said:
There is no doubt that the Ref 6 is an amazing preamp. It's my first ARC piece but I've heard ARC before. The Ref 6 has balls with a big sound and lots of air. I can't believe what a difference it has made in my system too.
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Joe which amp are you pairing the Ref 6 with?
 
I wish I could answer that question for you, but I can't since I have never had the Ref 10 in my system. Hopefully somone else that has heard both pres in their system can step up to the plate and share their thoughts.
 
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