My Listening Room
- Thread starter jadis
- Start date
After some marathon burn-in time put on the new VS-115 the last week, I should say, that I am truly happy now with its performance, though theoretically, it is still light years away from the manufacturer's recommendation.
What I like now is that, compared to my old amp, this amp does in fact sound more powerful, in that bass weight is increased without exaggeration nor muddiness, highs are very smooth and I hear a few things I thought I didn't hear before with my old amp - there is increased detailing. Mids are a bit the same than my old amp, and it remains very warm and mellow, but not veiled or congested. The soundstage is one great improvement. Width specifically is more extended and instruments are very well separated from each other. There is clarity and bite in string tones without courseness nor grain, and all told, basically every genre of music I have played have been very satisfying. It is a beautiful sounding amp for its price, I must say, considering that is cost far less than the old Ref 110 and the new Ref 150. The match with my Magnepan 2.7 is very nice indeed.
improved soundstage must be an aftermath of the additional bass resolution is my guess... glad to hear you are happy with the new purchase! Congratulations. Did you get it without hearing it first?
Thanks, Flez007. Yes, I bought it sealed in the box brand new, without hearing it. I have that much trust in ARC amps. I have friends who have the ARC Ref 110 and Ref 610, and they kinda give me an idea of the 'house sound' of the newer ARC's. I should say I was not mistaken in buying this one. I came from an ARC VS110 previously.
My pleasure, Ding, and I'm glad you could make it. It was lots of fun with the gang. Thanks so much for the kind words and I'm glad that you enjoyed the listening session.
ARC VS115 amp now close to 300 hours. That's about 100 hours a month. The improvement from the first month to this present 3rd month is quite significant. Instruments have much more texture now, more bite and the bass has gained enough speed I never thought my Maggies were capable of. During the first week to the 4th week (first 100 hrs), I was bothered by 'soft' overall presentation of the entire sound spectrum. Though I can hear the amps power, it had a mellow touch, rendering everything very smooth, and I felt I had to crank up the gain to hear more bite and attack. But now, it has become a different thing. It's speed, attack, and added clarity is something else without having to crank the volume too much. I reckon this will be how the amp's character will be till the 600 hours D-day and onwards. I played a disco 45 rpm 12" remix of Irene Cara's 'What A Feeling' from Flashdance the other day and I couldn't believe that my Maggies were pounding out those kind of bass punch similar to what I heard in discotheques of yore. With my old VS110, I never wanted to play that record after a few minutes bec I was just way too soft and lacking in sock. I can't imagine how this thing can get even better at 600 hours. As it is now, very very satisfied. Also, I can't imagine how much better a Ref 150 or Ref 250 with KT120 tubes can be.
My unsolicited advice is......don't find out! That might mean a serious reduction in potential O.W.N.s, and where will that leave me?
This is still the best Maggie-based system I've heard. How does it sound with the new ARCs, Jadis?
How does it sound with the new ARCs, Jadis?
My unsolicited advice is......don't find out! That might mean a serious reduction in potential O.W.N.s, and where will that leave me?
hehehe...wonder why i saw this post only now...don't worry jack, the O.W.N.s might be hitting your place sooner than you think.
This is still the best Maggie-based system I've heard.
Thanks, Keith. The ARC VS115 is now coming in slowly near the 400th hour, in my estimation. And I really have no big complains about it. It's sounding like a level up its old brother and there is nothing much to complain on its sonic performance.
Well, it's been about 8 years since I posted here, so yes, it's time for some update. I almost forgot all about this thread. And I have to backtrack a bit. At around 2013, the JPL preamp and the ARC Ph3 phono stage went out and were replaced by a pair of Eastern Electric's Minimax combo:
They were fitted with late 1950s NOS Mullard 17mm Square getter 12AX7s and 12AU7s:
And the VPI HW 19 MKII and ET2 tonearm went out as well and in came a NOS Avid Diva table with a Rega RB300 tonearm:
Fast forward to 2019 January, a son of an old friend offered to buy the whole analog rig including the Koetsu Rosewood Signature. Which opened up a slew of analog choices (within my budget of course) - Avid Volvere Sequel II with SME 309, Oracle VI with SME 5, and a Linn Sondek LP 12 Akurate package including the Lingo Power Supply, Linn Akito 3b tonearm and Linn Krystal cartridge. They were all around in the same price range. In the end, I chose the Linn as I had always wanted to be a 'Linnie' since the 80s, and I also love tables with old school dust covers.
The Linn Akurate was bought as a temporary thing as all along I planned to get a Koetsu Urushi. And by March, 2019, it became a reality. A thing of utmost beauty to me and continuing my Koetsu lineage or usage since 1998.
All was well until one morning of April, my ARC VS115s power tube 'arc-ed' (no pun intended), surprising me with a firecracker popping sound and a flash of light swishing through at the side of my eye. My ARC amp had been 8 years old. Yeah, time for another change I thought - the perfect excuse, and the timing was so that my wife and daughter were on vacation in Europe. I made some phone calls to those who's got stuffs within my budget. Shopped around for mono ARCs but all were XLRs only, so no nice. CJ got a call, but demo unit and high price, so no dice too. Prima Luna mono's - beautiful sound but I needed to talk to one last guy who carries my old fling in tube electronics - Jadis. The last guy was THE guy. He had a sealed PA100 amp that fit my bill for power wattage (150w) and just about the max that I wanted to spend. And in it came.
I was carrying a semi-lethal weapon to cut the seal of the box. It was one of the best pleasures of forking out money for audio gears.
And I have to backtrack a bit. At around 2013, the JPL preamp and the ARC Ph3 phono stage went out and were replaced by a pair of Eastern Electric's Minimax combo:
They were fitted with late 1950s NOS Mullard 17mm Square getter 12AX7s and 12AU7s:
And the VPI HW 19 MKII and ET2 tonearm went out as well and in came a NOS Avid Diva table with a Rega RB300 tonearm:
Fast forward to 2019 January, a son of an old friend offered to buy the whole analog rig including the Koetsu Rosewood Signature. Which opened up a slew of analog choices (within my budget of course) - Avid Volvere Sequel II with SME 309, Oracle VI with SME 5, and a Linn Sondek LP 12 Akurate package including the Lingo Power Supply, Linn Akito 3b tonearm and Linn Krystal cartridge. They were all around in the same price range. In the end, I chose the Linn as I had always wanted to be a 'Linnie' since the 80s, and I also love tables with old school dust covers.
The Linn Akurate was bought as a temporary thing as all along I planned to get a Koetsu Urushi. And by March, 2019, it became a reality. A thing of utmost beauty to me and continuing my Koetsu lineage or usage since 1998.
All was well until one morning of April, my ARC VS115s power tube 'arc-ed' (no pun intended), surprising me with a firecracker popping sound and a flash of light swishing through at the side of my eye. My ARC amp had been 8 years old. Yeah, time for another change I thought - the perfect excuse, and the timing was so that my wife and daughter were on vacation in Europe.
I made some phone calls to those who's got stuffs within my budget. Shopped around for mono ARCs but all were XLRs only, so no nice. CJ got a call, but demo unit and high price, so no dice too. Prima Luna mono's - beautiful sound but I needed to talk to one last guy who carries my old fling in tube electronics - Jadis. The last guy was THE guy. He had a sealed PA100 amp that fit my bill for power wattage (150w) and just about the max that I wanted to spend. And in it came.I was carrying a semi-lethal weapon to cut the seal of the box. It was one of the best pleasures of forking out money for audio gears.
And the glory of the tubes.
After all is said and done, my username is still Jadis.
After all is said and done, my username is still Jadis.
And I left out the best for last - my 22-year old Maggie. So it's like an old horse pulling a new cart.
I regard my hard to find NOS tubes as 'components'. Rolling them changes the tonal coloration to my liking, and my liking has leaned towards the UK 1950s made Mullard long plate square getters and Brimar military tubes - warm yet detailed and very open and transparent.
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