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    Whither Audio Research

    This subject is wearing on me and this comment may be a sign of that but at the end of the day there is no evolution, no advancement of the state of the art to be had with tube amps. There is little left after gimmicks, convenience, and reliability. "Whither Audio Research" is a very clever...
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    Whither Audio Research

    JasonBourne is active on the audio-gear-seller site and he espouses nonsense over there dominated by negative snark towards anything that does not measure well or meet his affordability requirements. It's like the spread of an invasive species.
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    Audio Research REF 75SE and REF 80S

    Yes Charles1dad, I didn't think the Ref 80S can be fired up without a load BUT I just pulled out my manual and not a word is said in warning about making sure the loudspeakers are hooked up before firing up the amp so it appears Jblesser did not make this up :) Just the same, I am not going to...
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    Audio Research REF 75SE and REF 80S

    Any impressions yet? A trick question on my part. It will go in and out of phases for a good 200 hours. At about 150 hours I even started to have doubts and considered putting my Ref150SE back in my system. Have tons of patience. This is a great amp. Now at 250 hours I am hearing the best sound...
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    Uh, Joe (Cohen),

    Are we to believe she is making sure the tubes are properly seated?
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    Audio Research REF 75SE and REF 80S

    I am using a.VH Audio PC, whatever was the top cable about five years ago. I see he has "flavors" now but don't recall that being the case when I ordered mine. Maybe I have just forgotten. I have not experimented with different PC's with this amp. I did with the 150SE and preferred the VH...
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    RIP Chris Sommovigo of Black Cat Cable

    I am shocked and saddened. Never met him but I felt I knew him from the many years of being a repeat customer and his newsletters. I hate saying "I just donated, you should too" but I will anyway.
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    Do Mobile Fidelity Vinyl Re-issues Have a Digital Step in the Process?

    Reading up and down the entire thread there is a lot of mixed language being bandied about. The mastering process is separate from the cutting process. MoFi has advertised all-analogue cutting and does. It is in the mastering process that a digital version of the original master tape is (and...
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    Do Mobile Fidelity Vinyl Re-issues Have a Digital Step in the Process?

    As the article mentioned through a quote, anyone who believed 40,000 copies of Michael Jackson's "Thriller" were all done through the "one-step" process needs help. They obviously don't understand the limitations of analogue tape. The truth was there for anyone to see if they put two and two...
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    Audio Research REF 75SE and REF 80S

    The Ref 80S continues to settle in and improve. This amp does not have the same authority over low end bass, the same macro dynamics (slam) of low bass that the Ref 150SE has. I suspect-but don't know-that its big brother Ref 160S does. It has its own set of attributes that rise above the 150SE...
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    A Bright Shining Lie…Why ignoring an inconvenient truth is stifling system performance a blog from Roy Gregory

    I hate it when the phrase "and that my friend" is used with utter sarcasm. Did I miss the point? No, perhaps you missed my reference to "insular" participants which refers, "my friend" to industry insiders and so-called reviewers. "So-called" because with the internet, anyone can call themselves...
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    A Bright Shining Lie…Why ignoring an inconvenient truth is stifling system performance a blog from Roy Gregory

    This thread is a surprise. I rarely participate/post on this Board because I tend to have strong opinions and state them bluntly. It always seemed to me that this Board is populated by an insular group of very genteel and well-heeled men who enjoy an echo chamber. I have no desire to be booted...
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    The Rise of the Uber-High End Integrated Amp

    I humbly think-with my opinion only being just that-my opinion-that simply posting porn shots of bling equipment with little analysis of what the product brings to the table makes this forum a bit vapid. So once in a while I might appear to be stirring the pot but that is not my incentive...
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    The Rise of the Uber-High End Integrated Amp

    It's a fad. Time was, integrated amps represented the evolution of the receiver due to consumers no longer wanting FM, and they were the "stuff" of mid-fi to introductory high-end. Japanese and British producers made integrateds to suit their customer's smaller listening rooms. From time to time...
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    Audio Research REF 75SE and REF 80S

    Having just sat down to put some more hours and listening in, it sounds petty to remark upon (as I listen to Tom Petty's "Wildflowers & All the Rest") but the user experience is entirely different between the two amps. With the 150 SE there is the rocker switch. It gets rocked and there is the...
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    Audio Research REF 75SE and REF 80S

    Billion$Baby, I do not. I have only 85 hours on my 80S due to life getting in the way of listening. That said, I am making a concerted effort to listen more and put more hours on the amp. I have zero doubt that the 80S excels over the 150 SE in terms of the ultimate listening experience. I do...
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    Analysis Plus Silver Apex IC's

    I brought up these cables two years ago. Jonathan Weiss of Oswald Mills Audio is evidently a fan too. See-if you wish-Ken Micallef's review of the Fleetwood Sound Co Deville SQ in the latest edition of S'Phile. It sounds like Ken appreciates them too now.
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    Audio Research REF 75SE and REF 80S

    Well, my new amp is set up and has about five hours of break-in so far. I am sure no one wants to read about such mundane things as shipping woes but I feel compelled anyway to talk about the condition of the outer ARC shipping box. UPS managed to beat it to within an inch of it's useful life...
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    Audio Research REF 75SE and REF 80S

    It's crazy out there. Say what you will but Kevin Deal is taking a very sophisticated approach, saying "calm down, be patient and I will take care of you". Being such an unreliable tube to begin with I feel bad for anyone who knuckles under and pays more than $200 from an ordinary supplier. ARC...
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    Audio Research REF 75SE and REF 80S

    I am not certain that there is any widespread damage, no. And your thoughts echo those of a tech in CT I trust who looked at the same photo. He suggested that the plastic boot over the fuse is a bad idea and that once the fuse and the nearby clearly burnt large resistor are replaced the plastic...
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    Audio Research REF 75SE and REF 80S

    My fault. I will report back but it will be based on comparison of the Ref 80S to the Ref 150SE as I have never had the pleasure of having the 75 SE in my system. By virtually all accounts the 75 SE sounds "better" than the 150 SE though the specifics as to how it sounds better has always been...
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    Audio Research REF 75SE and REF 80S

    So your "well known dealer on another forum" has spoken. That settles that. And I love your choice of words, "there's not much in it". Not much in it for whom? In short, your post smacks of someone with a Ref 75 SE who wants to piss all over the prospect that there might be something better.
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    Audio Research REF 75SE and REF 80S

    I am moving "down" from a Ref 150SE to a Ref 80S. My new amp should be in soon but I will need some time for it to burn in (by all accounts a minimum of 400 hours). My pre is a Ref 6. My dealer who has sold ARC for many years tells me he preferred the 75SE to the 150SE but that the 80S, 160S and...
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    Review of SW1X DAC III Balanced at Mono & Stereo

    Sorry. I can't help myself. The above is a very poor sentence. Can we leave the topic of English alone and talk about the DAC? Why is it always Joel who brings up the SW1X (pot stirring emoji here)?
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    Review of SW1X DAC III Balanced at Mono & Stereo

    Unlike the review in question, paragraphs are properly used to set apart different topics or themes. Mine is one theme. Also, I think I have done enough self-criticism and acknowledgement of imperfection in one day. But if you must, I admit to being fair game, so have at it! :cool:
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    Review of SW1X DAC III Balanced at Mono & Stereo

    I own this DAC. I love it. Joe has asked me to post a review. I in the past said that I would but I don't think I can. First, I would want to explain how the circuit topography differs from it's obvious influencing precursor, the Audio Notes, but I lack the expertise to do so. And then to give...
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    Review of SW1X DAC III Balanced at Mono & Stereo

    I have to humbly disagree. That this review is helpful to any of us. What is this writer's first language? It can not be English. Only 40 paragraphs into the review does Mr. Isak make his first effort to describe the sound. In none of the preceding paragraphs did he even endeavor to describe...
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    Building the Lotus Group Reference Turntable

    btw, Per Windfeld must have been one of those kids who constantly had his name misspelled in school, cursed to have it persist through adulthood.
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    Building the Lotus Group Reference Turntable

    Beautiful Joe. Great story. You want to finish up some 10 year old balsa wood radio controlled planes of mine? They talk to me whenever I go down to the basement.
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    Best DACs comparison test result [[My Subjective Opinion]]

    I will put my SW1X DAC III Balanced up against any dac on the planet priced at 30K or less. I am still trying to let it all soak in and come up with a decent review. I have been comparing recordings played through the SW1X and my hot rodded Garrard 301/Reed 3P/ Lyra Etna Lamda/Manley Steelhead...

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