7es-3 + Line Magnetic vs Vandy Quatro + AR VSI 55?

Wow- what shame you are getting so few responses. I wouldn't have thought. That being the case, maybe I will ad this. St.Louis Stereo carries all four lines you are mentioning here. Maybe if you go w/ Vandy/ARC, you could do business with them. I have never spoken with them, but they have a great reputation. I have heard from a dealer that the Harbeth 5 is a killer match w/ the Leben 300. If you are looking at the gold series, I would think a Leben comparison would make sense. That said, no Leben has the power of the KT120/88 501 Gold amp.

Just in general, the lower cost ARCs, in my listening, are no match for the Line Magnetic amps. There's a realism to the LMs that you aren't going to get from the ARC until you get into the REFs. I'm less a fan of the Leben with Harbeth, although that's from listening to P3s and 30.1s.

I was somewhat in your shoes recently - local shop carries ARC, Leben, Shindo, LM, Rogue, others. Went there to hear Rogue stuff, and incidentally they also had a used mint ARC VSI55 on hand. I did listen to the LM, and it sounded great, but to my ears the ARC sounded just as good (through a set of Proac D2). The LM stuff is gorgeous, but the VSI55 was priced right and too good to pass up, so I got that and the Proacs. I would still love to own an LM amp. I can't say that one amp would sound better than the other, too many variables...different rooms, different source, different speakers. What happens in my listening space may not happen in yours, and vice versa. My over-riding sentiment for you is this: everything you're listening to, or considering, is great equipment. There isn't a dog in the bunch. So I have to think that there's a very happy ending in your immediate future, whether you go LM or ARC.

Side note - I also heard the LM 502CA DAC and loved it. That's on my want list. But I found it odd that the LM website doesn't even include that model, no specs, driver download, etc. Not a big deal, but odd for equipment at this price level.

Side note 2 - Maybe I'm quirky in this way, but the fact that the LM only comes with a 1 year warranty bugged me a little. We're talking about amps in the $4K-5K range. One year seems short to me. But I still would like to own one, and may still buy the 502CA dac.

" I did listen to the LM, and it sounded great, but to my ears the ARC sounded just as good (through a set of Proac D2)."

With respect, which LM you heard should have a some relevance.
That said, synergy is huge and ARC/ProAc is a classic combo. Cheers and enjoy.

@Fjn04, at this particular shop I heard the 501 and the 518. I would like to have heard the Silver series, but they didn't have any in stock, though I know they can order them.

The ARC has unquestionable brand cache and would be very easy to sell if you didn't keep it. Word of mouth says the LM amplifiers really are good sounding(which you've heard and verified) and well built. Sound quality would be my top priority.

You need to listen with your own ears and mind. I've owned entry to mid level Audio Research gear and was never satisfied with the sound. It's smooth and gentle on the ears but I never found the golden tones that I value. More silvery and a little sterile to me.
I paired the gear with Vandersteen 5's and the vsi 55 with I believe Devore Super 8's and Nines. I really did enjoy the Ref amps with Verity Parsifals at a shop in Boston. Still though, they didn't have the warmth I've come to enjoy.

Admirable company, great products, not for me. I should add that I've enjoyed VAC, Luxman, Mastersound amps more. Nver heard of Line Magnetic.

Bjesien
Agree,Good advice,he should listen with his own ears.
Regarding your ARC comments ((I really did enjoy the Ref amps))) Could the difference you heard of possibly been
the Cables you had In your system?
I saw in a prior post you were running Synergistic and Nordost cables.
We found Synergistic to have rolled bass and Nordost
to be lean and clean.
Cheers JohnnyR