pakwong

Responses from pakwong

Distortion with ARC Ref 150 and Maggie 3.7
Thanks Knghifi for the reminder. Received the resistor from Audio Research and sent out the ARC 150 for trouble shooting this afternoon. Wish my technician would find out the problem with start circuit soon. In the mean time my listening room is u... 
Distortion with ARC Ref 150 and Maggie 3.7
I admit that I didn't do enough research before buying a balanced only amp for my single ended only preamp. So I'm the one that should be blame. However, it's a rare case when an adapter cable couldn't solve the connection problem. Anyway, I hope ... 
Distortion with ARC Ref 150 and Maggie 3.7
The fact is, though having trouble with the Ref 150, I'd still recognized it as a great amp after solving the matching problem with the CAT preamp. But as recommended by some of you here, I feels that the Ref 150 would be better matched with a tru... 
Distortion with ARC Ref 150 and Maggie 3.7
Atmasphere, totally agree with your statement. I would suggest all balanced amp should be more user friendly so people who has live with unbalanced equipment for a very long time could try their hand on balanced equipment which they are not famili... 
Distortion with ARC Ref 150 and Maggie 3.7
Thanks all for good opinions and comments. At the moment I'm still waiting for ARC to send me the resistor as my technician down here couldn't find resistor with such value. In the mean time, my ever faithful VTL MB125 monoblock continue to serve ... 
Distortion with ARC Ref 150 and Maggie 3.7
Updates:About one week after using the Jensen PI-2RX, the Ref 150 fuses blow twice. The second time one of the electronic part overheated. I wrote to ARC and here what they answer:"The overheated part is the turn-on surge resistor, R67. This is a ... 
Distortion with ARC Ref 150 and Maggie 3.7
Hi guys, got the RX few days back. They work the same as the XX, no difference in sound quality as I use the same IC which changed to RCA plug at output end. Anyway this unit need a few days to sound their best just like every other audio product.... 
Distortion with ARC Ref 150 and Maggie 3.7
Thanks Al, I'll wait for the PI-2RX for comparison. Will keep you posted. 
Distortion with ARC Ref 150 and Maggie 3.7
Hi all, I finally got the Jensen transformer but they sent me the PI-2XX instead of PI-2RX which I order. When I requested for exchange, they said it's electrically identical to the PI-2RX but they were happy to exchange. Which means I could use a... 
Distortion with ARC Ref 150 and Maggie 3.7
Mrderrick, no wonder ARC didn't mentioned this in their reply mail to me. If they have produced such product before, I think they should continue the production as some user may have encounter same issue like what I've been dealing with. Anyway, a... 
Distortion with ARC Ref 150 and Maggie 3.7
Many thanks to Bifwynne and Syntax for your kind advice on amp selection. I do have an offer for a Ref 5. Whether buying it or not I think I would still keep the Ref 150. For the JL 5 it kinda impossible to arrange for home audition down here but ... 
Distortion with ARC Ref 150 and Maggie 3.7
Yes kevin, I try to keep rational thinking and focus on the Jensen transformer first. A friend of mine also recommended JL 5. Although only rated 100 watts and have 8 KT120 power tubes just like the Ref 150, people who have been with CAT still thi... 
Distortion with ARC Ref 150 and Maggie 3.7
Martykl, if I have more than one listening room, I would have keep both! But I still think we audiophile should try to be rational as best as we can lol. The more I went deep into this hobby, the more I realized that we have to put a lot of effort... 
Distortion with ARC Ref 150 and Maggie 3.7
Al, if I were ARC, I would have given the same statement! Thanks again! 
Distortion with ARC Ref 150 and Maggie 3.7
Answer from ARC:"The REF150 is a balanced input power amplifier only and requires a true balanced differential input signal to operate correctly. You cannot use XLR to RCA adaptors as these do not generate the required negative phase input signal ...