The New Audio Research Reference 6

Melbguy ...

Oh ... SS? You went over to the dark side. Come back ... come back ... the tubes are beckoning ... beckoning ... beckoning ...

It kind of looks retro in a modern way if that's possible. It reminds me of a modern SP-3. I like it a lot.

From what I understand, the REF-6 gives the two chassis REF-10 a real run for its money, and is better in some ways ... and at less than half the price.

Who says trickle down doesn't work?

Wow! It looks to me as if Whole Foods had a load of sour grapes to get rid of.

Taters ... as one of those "aging clientele," I can assure you, I don't need hearing aids. I laughed at your comment though. You're a funny guy ... I appreciate that.

I recently had the pleasure of hearing an ARC SP-3A in a system. It was a lovely sounding piece.

I own an ARC Classic 60 that I use as a spare amp. Its very musical and enjoyable to listen to. I replaced it with the ARC-REF-75. Then I upgraded the tubes to the KT-150's. From there, I sold the REF-75 (kept the KT-150's) and replaced it with the ARC-REF-75se.

I used to own an ARC-SP-6 that I loved. I replaced it with an ARC-SP-14 ... and then replaced the SP-14 with my current ARC-REF-3.

I used to have the ARC CD-3 and went through all of the ARC tubed CD players to my current ARC-CD7se which is a killer of a CD player. The most analog sounding CD player I've heard to date. Although some think the CD-6 excels in this area.

Same thing with the Phono amps. I went though them all. Now I'm using the ARC PH-8.

All of this took years of upgrading to accomplish. With every upgrade, there was a significant improvement in MOST areas. Not one change was a setback in musicality, tonality, staging, dynamics, inner-detail or overall believability. My system just kept getting more emotionally involving over the years.

Had I not gone through the upgrade path with ARC, I'd still be listening to my SP-14 and Classic 60. Yep, they made music ... but not like the current ARC equipment I own. The difference is NIGHT and DAY.

Was the time, effort and money worth it? Hell yes ... I have thousands of records and CD's covering all genres of music .. and I want to get the best out of them. It's what I do. It's who I am.

None of you naysayers have to follow the pathway of upgrades. You can stay musically satisfied with your Fisher tube receiver, your Grado 60 headphones, your $35 Grado cartridge, your original AR turntable, your AR-3 bookshelf speakers,your Elac tape player, your Radio Shack wires and your Elvis 45's. I once thought that was great too. Then I found a pair of modified mono Dynaco III's and a modified Dynaco Pas-3 for sale in the Recycler ... and I haven't looked back since.

Very soon, I will be looking at a REF-6 sitting in the vacant space left by my trusty old, lovely sounding and VERY musical REF-3.

Peace out guys ...

Taters sez ...

"ARC is banking on guys like you to support them with their continuous upgrades and new products. The only problem is the day will come when the musical chairs will stop."

On the contrary Taters ... guys like me are banking on ARC to continue to upgrade their equipment and advance the state of the art so that the new technology will trickle down to their more affordable products. Hopefully, when ARC's musical chairs stop, I'll be listening to Golden Harps and Angels that play alto sax like Paul Desmond.

Bdp24 ...

Hopefully, Ralph has improved his products over the years as ARC has done. Around 20 years ago, I had a pair of M-60's on loan for about two years. They belonged to a friend and in some ways he and I prefered them to my ARC Classic 60. Because of my friend, we just kept the ARC amp out of the system for the entire two years. Ralph's amps had a beautiful midrange ... and I mean beautiful. But in comparison to the ARC Classic 60, the Atmosphere M-60's lacked bass and highs. The bass wasn't even close.

At one point (also over 20 years ago) I had the opportunity to hear Ralph's most expensive preamp (I forgot the model) in the system for two evenings. It was glorious. Way more musical, transparent and realistic than my ARC SP-14. But, that was in comparison to the SP-14, not the REF-3 or the new REF-6.

At the same time, we inserted Ralph's big mono amps into the system along with his best preamp. It was amazing. That was in comparison with the Classic 60 and Ralph's M-60's. I'd like to make that same comparison with my current amp, the ARC-REF75se.

As I said, all of this was over 20 years ago. Since then, I've had nothing but ARC gear in the system. I'll say this ... from memory ... If Ralph hasn't followed the upgrade path as ARC has done, then what I'm hearing in the system now would KILL Ralph's stuff. I suspect though, that Ralph has improved right along with everyone else. Ralph knows his electronics ... and he knows music. All one has to do to understand where Ralph is coming from is to visit his room at one of the shows. Hey, anyone who uses a classic Empire turntable to demo his equipment at the shows can't be all bad. *lol*

By the way, I have two of Ralph's private recordings in my collection. You want to talk realistic sounding recordings? Realism ... In spades! Like I said, Ralph knows his stuff.

Atmosphere, EAR, ARC ... ying/yang and hooray for tubes!

Happy listening ...

Bdp24 ...

Yes, I've heard of Fulton. Don't have any of his recordings, but I have a friend who, I think, has his entire catalog.

If you're still digging through thrift stores and garage sales, keep your eyes out for the "Century" label. These were recorded by a small company that recorded high school and college coral groups and orchestral music. Some of them are real knockouts.

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