Kev - any hopes of getting a pair of ARC REF 250's to try? Might be terrific on the Strads. Certainly has the speed, dynamics and air around the instruments while still maintaining that wonderful midrange.
Food for thought....
Mike at this stage no. for me it's that Arc is Arc is Arc thing. Heard the Arc Ref 150 amp with the ref 5se
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http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/sgr/1.html Ed Kraemer's review from 6 Moons.
Have been talking to Stuart Ralston of SGR Audio, who makes these amps & he tells me that by using the lights on the front of the amps I can tell how many watts I am listening with. I am apparently still in class A mode for 90% of my listening, could have a good bit to do with why I am selling the 2301's.
A brief description of my time with the 2301's. When I first got these amps I couldn't believe the yin & yang of them, or, as I have said in a past description, they are a paradox. Warm yet detailed, lovely mid-range tube bloom, definitely not fatiguing, transparent with a very laid back speed about them that creates a very relaxing experience.
The Bryston 28B SST2 mono's had some of the same attributes with the grip & slam of ss amps, slightly faster presentation, but to me would be a sideways step at best.
A brief listen to some ARC gear & realise it wont give me the grip of Class A & delivery of energy that I am looking for.
Then Stuart Ralston calls me on the blower to ask about some specs on a rack that they are making for me, one thing leads to another & now I am listening to one of his creations in mono.
My first listen after letting at least a 1/2 hr go by with music playing at usual listening levels was quite an eye opener to me. Being used to the tone & audio signature of the 2301's, not to mention the speed of those amps & then having a serious listen to the EL 30m's floored me. I was hearing things on the cd's that I hadn't heard on any of my other systems in the past, the detail was absolutely dumbfounding, I was in shock. In fact it was so shocking I thought after listening for 45 mins that these amps are going back.
I wasn't unaware to the fact that I was conditioned to a pair of very good hybrid tube amps & the Strads, so I thought I owed it to myself to let things develop over time, as I did. The second, third & fourth listening sessions gave me these impressions "I want them & the 2301's are gone". Detail in everything I listen to is revealing things that the warm tube mid-range can dull in a presentation, very fast amps that are tonally just warm, transparency that is absolutely startling, I sat there listening to music that I am very familiar with & was thinking "really" is that in there?Things I hadn't heard before on the same recordings & my brain was in overload trying to keep up & process the new information. Wow! It was then that I went back & listened to everything again on the third session, that was the start of the bonding with these amps into a familiarity that led me into the fourth session that had me very well decided that these are my new amps, the search has stopped, they are that good.
Bob Segers Like a Rock was like sitting 5 mtrs away from the whole ensemble at an outdoor setting, the speed & the grip of these amps is exhilarating. Bruce Springsteen when he gets to singing with his acoustic guitar & starts crooning is hard to understand sometimes, not in this demo! No matter what I threw at these amps that I knew to be a hard task, they rose to the challenge & excelled. Adele was very revealing but not shrill, the same for Roseanne Cash. Bob Dylan gained 15 years of youth to his voice, no more mumbles, just anything & everything was an improvement & no listening fatigue. The last session was with me not having slept for close to 30 hrs & when I finally turned in after listening for 90 mins I was so jazzed from the session I couldn't sleep for an hour.Closer to the truth & happy
