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Audio Research GS150 Musings

Good day my fellow ARC Agaricus Bisporus.

In light of the relative ambivalence that seems to have descended upon ARC's latest, and Should we to believe the "word' on the street, greatest stereo amplifier, I thought that I would initiate this thread for the most part as a vehicle whereby any early adopters of this particular model might comment upon their considerations of the amplifier thus far, and hopefully utilize the same, as a place where they may log their considerations as they journey through the Roller Coaster ride that is ARC break in.

I hope that I will be excused for the somewhat laxidaisic cut n pasting that follows, however I plead the 'Humungous Hangover' defence!

" For my part I have listened to the same GS150 at 60 hours, then with 166 hours on the clock, and whilst there were signs of an opening up in the midrange, I felt the amplifier to to be rather 'Tight', and still a Tad constrained in some areas of tonality, texture and harmonics, particularly on acoustic strings.

Whilst considering comment made thus far in respect of the KT150, I was expecting to be impressed with the lower registers, even at this point in what can be something of a roller coaster ride where break in of ARC is concerned, however this particular GS is still quite some way off, in reproducing the gravitas evident in for example, Der Ring des Nibelungen, as imparted by my Ref150 even at 300 hours on the clock.

However! Even at this early juncture, It is in the upper mid-range, ascending, where the GS has ,for me, impressed the most. The retrieval of filagre micro detail is quite excellent, the GS seeming to impart additional 'air' and light with an effortless extension to the very upper registers. Smooth, clean and accurate, whilst remaining quite organic and utterly convincing in nature.

Jasper."
tsushima1

Showing 1 response by david12

david12
1,454 posts
 
I haven't heard it myself, but there is a review of the GSpre/GS150, in this months HiFi News magazine in the UK. It gives a pretty much unqualified thumbs up, as you would expect from a magazine with a heavy advertising input from the UK distributor. Not that they would be biased of course. This is part of a telling conclusion:

" Audio Research say it's Galileo Series is not intended as a replacement for the existing Refs, but will coexist with the rest of the ARC product range to provide an alternative aesthetic as well as a platform for new ideas. So, before REF owners feel tempted to upgrade lock stock and barrel, I'd urge them to first try an audition an ARC ref 150 with KT150's in place of the stock KT120s"

Well precisely, except it is not a switch ARC would condone it seems and might void the warranty. The KT150's works pretty well in my Ref 75 though and many are using the 150 tubes in the Ref 150 amp, I believe.

Now I for one, would be very interested in that comparison and if, as I suspect, there isn't a great improvement in the sound, you are paying a pretty penny for an, "alternative Aesthetic", methinks.
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