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Audio Research Reference tube phono preamp

I finally bit the bullet and purchased the ARC Reference tube phono preamp and it has made a tremendous difference in my system. I am running a Rega P25 with a Micro Benz Ace cartridge moving coil and it now sounds like a million dollars. The ARC is super quite, dynamic, smooth, detailed etc.... no faults to be found. I heartily suggest that instead of buying a more expensive turntable/ cartridge right away, buy a great phono preamp first and you'll be amazed. I cannot imagine what this ARC Reference will be capable of with a higher end table etc... I will probably go with the Rega P9 and better cartridge when I recover from this purchase!! I am in vinyl heaven now!!

Cheers,
Nocaster.
nocaster
cmo
471 posts
 
I'm with you brother. I bought mine about a year and half ago and was slack jawed at the improvement. I wasn't coming from a crappy phono stage either (Sonic Frontiers). I don't know why I don't hear more about the Ref.

Chris
nocaster OP
52 posts
 
You're right. I could not find a lot about the Ref before I bought it. I have already ordered a P9 with a Benz Ruby cartridge (The Ref deserves it). Vinyl is the way to go, it makes me laugh when I hear about people spending 10K and up on digital sources. I know people that have no idea how good vinyl can sound, in fact they view turntables as dated tools of the past to be used only as part of an old vintage system. Cheers.
aleko's avatar
aleko
33 posts
 
Guys,
Do you need a line stage with the ARC ref or the phono
pre drives directly the power amp ?
Thanks
nocaster OP
52 posts
 
Hello
Yes I have it hooked up to the line stage on my McIntosh C2200. The C2200 has a provision to change the built in phono stage to an aux input. I simply turned off the built in phono and then plugged the phono to the line/aux stage. The combination is breathtaking.

Cheers,
Nocaster.
nocaster OP
52 posts
 
Hi Again
Also, I can now confirm that I am using the ARC Ref Phono with a Rega P9 and a Micro Benz LP cartridge. The combination is proving to be outstanding. Very dynanic and super quite, but also extremely musical. I have arrived!! Yes one can spend more on an analog front end but I feel that from this point on it would be more a preference issue rather than a clear cut objective one. Happy listening.

Cheers,
Nocaster.
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