Do we use our ears?

[mep]

Well today, I am getting a lot of heat because some other a'philes are of the opinion that the 'latest is the greatest'.( No big deal, my new flame suit is up to the task )Even though some of these same people are still using TT's that were last minted in the 80's, LOL.
My point....IF you haven't heard the particular combination of gear that I or other a'philes are claiming to be superb, then DON'T knock it because it doesn't fit into your understanding or personal experience of the piece under question.
Are we using our ears in our choice and opinion on gear OR are we simply blowing hard with no real experience of the gear in question. Which leads to my next point, that so much great gear is probably passed up due to NOT using our ears and jumping to conclusions. IMO, this is a trap that we can all easily fall into...

Davey-Not only have I heard the ARC D-70 MKII amp and the CAT Signature preamp, I owned both pieces. My opinions are based on listening to those pieces of gear in my system. As I have tried to tell you before, just because you love the sound of certain combinations of gear doesn’t mean that everyone will share your enthusiasm and you’re right and they must be wrong.

The only thing that matters is that you love the sound of your system. You don’t need to feel that you have to convince everyone that they should love it too. And if you had a chance to listen to ARC amps as they have evolved over the years, you wouldn’t be making statements that the REF-75 will have to “prove” it is better than the D-70 MKII. ARC has already bettered the sound of the D-70 series many times.

 

[Bill Hart]

Davey-Not only have I heard the ARC D-70 MKII amp and the CAT Signature preamp, I owned both pieces. My opinions are based on listening to those pieces of gear in my system. As I have tried to tell you before, just because you love the sound of certain combinations of gear doesn’t mean that everyone will share your enthusiasm and you’re right and they must be wrong.

The only thing that matters is that you love the sound of your system. You don’t need to feel that you have to convince everyone that they should love it too. And if you had a chance to listen to ARC amps as they have evolved over the years, you wouldn’t be making statements that the REF-75 will have to “prove” it is better than the D-70 MKII. ARC has already bettered the sound of the D-70 series many times.

I had a D 70 mk II that I used for a good while with my ARC SP-10 preamp on the Crosby Quad. When I changed to the Classic 60 amp,* the change was not subtle and despite the common complaint about 'bleached sound' in some of the more modern ARC stuff, it created a 3d quality that the D-70 lacked, even though as I remember, the D-70 mkII was regarded after the test of time as one of the 'good' ones (there were, I think, some that were not). Not to say I have no love for older ARC amps- I still have my Dual 75a which I bought sometime around 1973-74- i've had it retubed, recapped, and maintained now for almost 40 years. (Haven't listened to it in a while, but I don't think it will go down in ARC history as one of their better sounding amps). I keep it entirely for sentimental value.

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* If I remember, that amp came out in the early 90's, so it is not really, by any stretch, the 'latest.'

 

[MylesBAstor]

OK then Myles, I will add poor tape control to the list if you insist!

Tom

You don't think it makes a difference if the deck is vertical or horizontal?

 

[DaveyF]

I had a D 70 mk II that I used for a good while with my ARC SP-10 preamp on the Crosby Quad. When I changed to the Classic 60 amp,* the change was not subtle and despite the common complaint about 'bleached sound' in some of the more modern ARC stuff, it created a 3d quality that the D-70 lacked, even though as I remember, the D-70 mkII was regarded after the test of time as one of the 'good' ones (there were, I think, some that were not). Not to say I have no love for older ARC amps- I still have my Dual 75a which I bought sometime around 1973-74- i've had it retubed, recapped, and maintained now for almost 40 years. (Haven't listened to it in a while, but I don't think it will go down in ARC history as one of their better sounding amps). I keep it entirely for sentimental value.




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* If I remember, that amp came out in the early 90's, so it is not really, by any stretch, the 'latest.'

Whart, funny you mention the Classic 60, as i used to own a Classic 60 and my recollection is that it didn't hold a candle to the D70 Mk2 in its imaging abilities. I guess YMMV.

 

[Bill Hart]

Dunno, maybe it is system dependent. On the 63 version of the Quad, it seemed like night and day. 22 years ago.

 

[mep]

Maybe that was the difference between listening to a "triode" amp and a pentode amp. The Classis series tied the grids to the plate in order to run the 6550 pentode as a triode.

 

[Soundproof]

Get a 7.5 ips copy of Barbra Streisand's "People." By then she had stopped belting out her songs, and the record company knew they had a winner, so they spent money on the sessions.

Listen to her voice. Focus on how her voice is reproduced, the wealth of detail in that reproduction, the clarity, and the smoothness of the transitions as her voice works the register.

Compare with same on NM vinyl or CD.

They are giving away that issue on eBay, go get one.

 

[microstrip]

Dunno, maybe it is system dependent. On the 63 version of the Quad, it seemed like night and day. 22 years ago.

The Classic 120's also sounded great on the ELS63 - they could make an excellent use of their increased energy. And , yes, it was around 20 years ago.

Yesterday I received the visit of the good friend who owns my pair ARC Classic 120 since longtime - they are playing in balanced mode with an ARC SP15 mk2 . Still performing as new and he is still in love with them!