Ref-75-SE delivered ...


It arrived late yesterday via UPS. I had company over last night so I didn't hook it up 'till this morning. I had it playing by 7:30.

I sold the REF-75 early last month and was using my spare, which is a great sounding ARC- Classic 60. Man, if someone is looking for a musical amp at a reasonable price, the CL-60 would be a good way to go. It kind of has that vintage tube sound. Listening to music through it, is kind of like watching a good Technicolor movie. Hey, who doesn't like watching the original version of The Wizard of Oz? Its not right, but its beautiful. I mean, when you walk outside, Technicolor doesn't hit you in the face ... reality does.

Which brings me to the REF-75 and the REF-75 SE.

I bought my original REF-75 over two years ago, brand new, with KT120 tubes. What struck me about that amp was the lack of grain, the soundstage and the tonality. It played big and it played beautifully. That's what I thought until I swapped out the KT120's for a new quad of KT150's. Now that brought the amp up to a new level. Audio nirvana, I thought. Hummph, silly me.

Enter the REF-75 SE.

Fist thing, I let it cook for about a half hour in order to get the amp to stablize so I could check the bias. Good thing too because both sides needed biasing. The right channel was all way over to the "Caution" level.

Upon initial listening, I was really taken by how quiet this amp is ... I mean QUIET!! Not digital quiet, that kind of quiet just sounds totally artificial to me. What I mean is ... its a natural quietness unlike any tube amp I've ever heard.

For the first two hours, it was better than the REF-75 it replaced by maybe 20% or so. At the two hour mark, things really started to open up. Here's what my notes say:

Quiet!
Articulate.
Dynamic.
Decay of notes.
Presense.
Fast.
Leading edge of notes.
Weight in the lower registers of the piano.
Sustained notes - has me hanging on a thread.

So how does this play out when listening to music?

Like most of us, I have a little section of records (among thousands) that I use for reference purposes. They are the ones I listen to first when evaluating new equipment. I know every nuance of these records. Listened to them hundreds of time.

First up - Sue Raney on the Discovery label. The SE allowed me to hear the volume of air, and the force and reduction of force that was coming out of Sue Reney's chest and up through her throat. On the third cut, there is a triangle that the percussionist delicately hits. With all previous amps, I thought there was just one triangle. Turns out, there are three. For the first time, I could hear the slight difference in the notes. That was hidden before.

Second up- Sammy Davis Jr. Sings. Laurindo Almedia Plays. Reprise RS-6236.
Again, like the Sue Raney album, the air coming out of Sammy's chest and across his vocal chords and all of the subtlety of that was in his total control. Then, I realized that all of the really great singers do this and that's why they have the great instruments they do.
The guitar work being done here by Almedia is superb. Not my favorite guitarist, but on this album his playing grabs you by the emotions. BUT, through this amp ... a different world. The leading edge of the notes and the subtle decay of those notes make this album extra special now.

Keep in mind that we are only two hours in on this new amp at this point. The sound stage is still constricted and the 3-D imaging is on a par with the Classic 60, and not as good as the old REF-3.

Over the course of the day, I continued listening for a couple of hours each time. The more time that passed, the better the amp got.

Next Album .. about 4 hours in: The Norman Luboff Choir .. "But Beautiful" Columbia CS-8114. This is a demo quality record that has a tremendously wide sound stage. Its fun. The chorus is spread behind the speakers and goes from wall to wall. And now, I'm getting a 3-D image like never before. The articulation in each chorus member's voice has never sounded better ... not even close. There is a female soloist named Betty Mulliner who has her place behind and just to the left of the right speaker. With all other amps I've had, she has sounded diffused. The original REF-75 brought her out of the mist ... but not like the new SE. Now, she is in total focus and its like I can see her head move and hear her lips smack. I can get a true sense of her personality. Same thing on every vocal record I played today. Get this album if you like beautiful classic pop music from the 40's and 50's

Next: John Williams Paganni:Guitar trio - Hayden: Guitar Quartet. Columbia MS 7163. Again, this is a sound stage spectacular. I love this album, not just because I'm a classical guitar freak, but because its a great test of equipment when looking for correct tonality. Like the once vague female soloist in the last album, there is a cello in the right rear of the sound stage that keeps getting more refined as my system improves. With the REF-75SE .. gone is the vagueness. All of it. That cello is now in the room, tonally correct, and very moving. And John Williams? For the first time, I heard the strings of his guitar vibrate. The decay of the notes seemed to last forever. How may accolades can I pile onto Mr. Perfection on the classical guitar? Buy this album, you won't regret it.

Finally a mono record to die for: Dave Brubeck's Jazz Impressions of The USA." This record never came out in stereo. Near as I can tell reading the liner notes, it was recorded sometime in '55 or early '56. This is Paul Desmond at his very best. Not as hard boppin' as the Oberlan College album ... but man 'O man ... the second cut "Summer Song" has Paul Desmond right there in the room. Its never sounded better than today.

So, that kind of gives you guys a hint of what was going on at my place today. The amp burned in for 12 hours, and toward the end the sound stage has filled out nicely, dynamics are startling, musicians were in 3-D relief, and most importantly to me, the instruments all sounded tonally correct.

My source tells me that at this point, the amp is only scratching the surface. He says ... wait until 200 hours has gone by before seriously writing any review of the new amp. I couldn't wait ... its that good. Bottom line for all ARC REF amp owners ... even at this early stage, I can honestly say... the SE kills the old amp. Go for the upgrade.
128x128oregonpapa
"Not digital quiet, that kind of quiet just sounds totally artificial to me."

So now we are evaluating different qualities of "quiet." Oregonpapa, what exactly does quiet sound like anyway?

Me, I prefer artificial digital silence over real silence. I find that there's more "there" there.
Think of digital silence in an analogous sense as a blackout, absence of light or any indication that it exists, like you were born totally blind like walking into a room at night without any windows. Natural silence would be as Wolf says hearing the distant crikets or at least, What is that? A realization that there is more ambience and background info than total absence of. It's those subtle details and by another name it might be defined as continuous resolution. Early digital was just that.
Tubegroover ...

You've nailed it. Here's what I suspect. A lot of the times we are communicating with younger folks who were born after the digital revolution took place. Its understandable that they don't get it. Nothing against them at all. Hey, my grand kids think I'm completely crazy. I mean, why in the world would "Gramps" want to record his favorite records onto cassette tapes to play in his car when he has perfectly good MP3's available to him? hahaha ... their loss, is all I can say. And by the way, my car has a Mark Levinson sound system in it ... and with my analog recordings its pretty damned amazing.
To Salectric ... and anyone else who is interested:

Got up this morning and had the amp warmed up by 8am. Its at 25 hours from new now, and has kind of hit a plateau. Not surprising. My experience in breaking in the new ARC gear is that at times, for a few moments only, it can even take a backward step. But then ... there is a jump to a new level of refinement.

On the records. I'm really enjoying this thread because its turned into not only an amp review, but a review of some of my very favorite music. I love getting audiophiles away from the audiophile recordings, much of which has great sound, but not much in the way of soul. So, I'm going to continue to make such recommendations ... take them for what they're worth to you. Keep in mind that I'm an older guy, much older than most of you folks posting on this site. To give you an idea ... some of my mono Bruebeck albums, I bought in high school. I used to hang out at the Lighthouse Jazz Club in Hermosa Beach back in '55 & "56 while in the 11th & 12th grade. Yes ... I can still hear. *lol*

So, speaking of mono records ... The first record I put on to accompany my first cup of Guatemala's finest this morning was: Doris Day's "Day By Day." This never came out in stereo, but its the kind of mono record that get's you to thinking: "Hey, who needs stereo?" Like most young men at the time of Doris' peak in the movies, I literally fell in love with her. She was America's sweetheart at the time. She was known by most as a movie actress, but she was a terrific big band singer back in the '40's. Her voice is as sweet as her looks. The nice thing about a great piece of gear like the ARC-REF-75-SE, is that it allows us to get much closer to the performer. With vocals it gets us up close to the actual personality of the performer. This morning, I fell in love with Doris Day all over again. Add this to your mono collection ... you won't be sorry. She sounds like her face. I mean, who wouldn't want to invite her into their room. Take a look:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/DORIS-DAY-DAY-BY-DAY-MINT-MONO-COLUMBIA-RECORD-1957-/321708106730?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4ae74c23ea
And then, after Doris Day ...

I put on Jo Stafford's "Ballad of The Blues." Here's another one of the 1940's big band greats. Yeah, I know, White girls can't sing the blues ... riiight. This album has so much going on within it ... its a great one to use when evaluating your new upgrades. On one cut, there is a traditional jazz band playing way back in the right rear of the sound stage. The original REF-75 brought them out pretty well. Prior to that, they were pretty diffuse. Well, the SE version brings the band into their own. Listening around Jo Stafford's voice, I could really enjoy what this band was doing and could follow every musical line. There is another cut called "John Henry." For impact, someone strikes an anvil. Well, with every amp I've had in the past, I THOUGHT it was an anvil. With the SE, I can clearly hear that its the percussionist striking a chime. He's dampening it somehow so that there isn't a decay like a chime would do, but so that it comes across like an anvil would ... deader than a chime. Maybe he's touching the bottom of the chime with his fingers or something. Any percussionists in the room? Maybe they could tell us. Anyway, that kind of tells you how defined this new amp is. I work on the weekends, so I had to tear away from the audio system. More listening tonight. Stay tuned.

On the Jo Stafford album: Try to get the six-eye stereo version. This is what you're looking for:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/JO-STAFFORD-Ballad-Of-The-Blues-LP-re-Jazz-/300986199700?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item46142cee94

Happy listening ...