I've had the same setup as you for the last 12 month now. Eidolons on a JL2 connected to an Audio Aero Capitole CD. Although I'm not happy with the JL2 technically (hums, nearly burned the house, had to be repaired within weeks, ..), I cannot complain sonically.
When designing the system I've also auditioned the ARC 600 (not sure about the REF) at a dealer on some large Thiels in a horribly treated room. Although better than their Gryphon Reference (solid state), I wasn't impressed much. No gain over the JL2.
If you want to spend some funds to improve things, I would recommend (in this order):
- Room treatment. In my opinion every dollar spend here, is worth 10 times more than a dollar spend on overpriced amps.
You can't beat the simple physics.
- Dedicated power line for your stereo. This was an eye opener for me. $80 spend here equalled $5000 spend for amps.
- Audition the Audio Aero Capitole CD. The digital volume control and tube output are doing it for me.
Enjoy the music!
When designing the system I've also auditioned the ARC 600 (not sure about the REF) at a dealer on some large Thiels in a horribly treated room. Although better than their Gryphon Reference (solid state), I wasn't impressed much. No gain over the JL2.
If you want to spend some funds to improve things, I would recommend (in this order):
- Room treatment. In my opinion every dollar spend here, is worth 10 times more than a dollar spend on overpriced amps.
You can't beat the simple physics.
- Dedicated power line for your stereo. This was an eye opener for me. $80 spend here equalled $5000 spend for amps.
- Audition the Audio Aero Capitole CD. The digital volume control and tube output are doing it for me.
Enjoy the music!