I also have this preamp in my system. It's the best preamp I have owned. Transparent, musical, and indeed does sound staging so well as Tom describes.

And THAT’s how you do a review, everyone. So well done! Thank you!

I have this Preamp in my system - - it's the best preamp I've ever owned - it may well be the one component that I don't hear my "little voice" taunting me to want something different or, so called, better.

@musamusashi

Жыл бұрын

For a year or two 😂

Thanks for the review. I have a Ref6SE and Ref Phono 3SE in my system and I love the liquidity of the sound. I used to have an ARC Ref 110 power amp with KT120 tubes, but I found it to be slow and a bit soft sounding. I now have a Gryphon Mephisto, which sounds great with my ARC front end.

Thanks and honest review! Appreciated

Great review and I love that you talk about what is used as well to come to your conclusion. I would love to hear a review by you on the Ref 3se phono stage as well as one of Audio Research’s top tube based CD players.

I also have this preamp along with the Ref 160S amp, it’s a wonderful sounding system.

17,000 and only a 3 yr warranty?! They need to look at bryston and simaudio and stand behind their gear longer.

@tms372

5 күн бұрын

Indeed, but do you know of a tube amp/preamp that has more warranty ?

Thank you for a great video. You have a lovely system

Tom, thank you for such an accurate and informative and insightful review, Ref 6SE.😊 I'm partial to ARC. I have grown up listening to ARC. It sounds like live music. And I listen to the music and not the equipment 😊

I just looked it up and apparently it was Stewart Hegeman (Harman Kardon) who coined the phrase "straight wire with gain".

I'm still rocking an LS2 and I still love it. Don't have the budget for any big upgrades, but honestly my system still sounds so good that the upgrade bug is barely even nibbling at me yet.

Just curious- every preamp I have owned (Spectral, PS Audio BHK Pre, etc) I found there were one or two inputs that sounded clearly different than the others. Better or worse is in the ear of the beholder, but decidedly different. I wonder if you have ever compared inputs? Like in this case move the Lina output around the various inputs and see what happens? Cheers!

Still, the best amplification on earth.

Hi Tom, nice review. On the video I see that you were using stock power cord. Ref6 SE is the most sensitive component to power cord I have tried. Differences are huge, so if you really want to know what this beast can do definitely try excelent PC. I’ve tested AQ Dragon and it was night and day difference. If you haven’t tried good PC than you could come to conclusion that there is no difference between going directly from DA to poweramp and using REF6. My experiences so far is that skipping excelent preamp sound is thinner, soulless , less dynamic and soundstage is smaller.

At these prices and if the build quality is exc. the 3-year warrantee is wanting. How is it Bryston does 20 years?

I fell in love with audio research electronics in the early 70s still can't afford it.

Has Tom recently done a hearing test to gauge his level of hearing in the high frequencies? This should be a recurring requirement for all professional reviewers of a certain age and beyond.

@robertyoung1777

11 ай бұрын

That’s an interesting point. I only hear up to about 12 thousand hertz. I would still contend that having a system play full range is important. I’m not sure how well we really understand human hearing. If the entire range of sounds aren’t represented by a stereo, it might be perceptible in some unknown way.

@artyfhartie2269

10 ай бұрын

What was that?

That big old beast is why I like all-in-one receivers.

As usual, excellent review. Very educational and well thought out. Thanks!

Wonderful review but did Tom have to spend 8 minutes telling us what a preamp is ? If we tuned into this review I think we would know.

I'm sure it's fantastic & highest quality. Is it perhaps into the range of diminished return for the $$$?

Why no comparison REF6 vs REF6SE?

A beauty

There’s an American preamplifier manufacturer: Backert Labs and their top notch product is: Rhythm 1.3 linestage tube preamplifier. How does it compare to the audio research?

Is softness an artificial attempt to give a sense of transparency? Or airiness or soundstage width.

I have several pieces of vintage Audio Research components. I have an SP2. I have an SP6. I have an SP6B. I have a D50 and a D90. All work except for the D90. I find this new preamp to be really ugly compared to my components but I imagine it should sound better. My system right now sounds the same to me as a live classical symphony. I have a Linn LP12 turntable and Acoustat electrostatic speakers.

@andrewmacdonald3667

Жыл бұрын

What phono stage are you using with the LP12 please?

@nicoras8803

11 ай бұрын

As the saying goes, sound quality is in the eye of the beholder, not the ear.

Good marketing blog man.

I have a Ref6 and 160M combo. I think the comparison of the Ref6 against DACs with volume control underrates the Ref6. My Ref6 is in repair and I've had to use the volume control on the Berkley Reference DAC. The sound from the DAC is a level below what I was getting with the Ref6. What you lose when not using a preamp is instrument scale and body. The sound without preamp is fine but no cigar. I really miss the sound of real music you get when using a proper preamp.

But if its main function is that it is "not there", why not use a DAC with a volume control?

Tom I would love to hear your thoughts on Parasound products like the A21+ / JC5 and more importantly the JC2 BP Preamplifier. Not so much for myself, but to help others who are in the $20-$25.000 system range. Which is definitely the endgame for many of us. The noise floor reduction of the JC2 BP was so staggering, and it only took minutes to hear. For the money, unless my untrained ear is missing something, can't be beat. Thank you

@ChrisMag100

Жыл бұрын

I own a JC5 which powers Focal Scala Utopia Evo’s. I had a JC2BP for years. Sold it and bought an ARC LS28SE. The JC2 is good. Very good actually. However, with high efficiency speakers and a high gain amp, you’re forced to trim voltage somewhere in the chain to avoid being limited to the bottom of the volume range (where the potentiometer is least transparent). Not ideal. The JC2’s volume pot cannot compete with the volume control circuit in a modern ARC preamp. However, if you don’t have the gain matching issue, it’s a very good value. FWIW, I evaluated a REF5SE against the LS28SE. I preferred the LS28SE. The LS was a bit less tubey sounding.

@davewin1792

Жыл бұрын

@@ChrisMag100 Thank you for responding. I have the JC5 and JC2 (just purchased them and they're not even broken in yet) My speakers are 88db but I'm struggling a bit with where to have the gain on the amp vs pre-amp. I've heard that you want the volume range to be from 10:00-2:00 usable range, never actually heard why besides the obvious reason. My jaw dropped when I heard how much noise reduction there was in the quiet movements in orchestral music :) I know that Audio Research is killer equipment. I'm guessing for the money the Parasound products will get most of us in the ballpark, maybe just the parking lot but that's OK to :)

@ChrisMag100

Жыл бұрын

@@davewin1792the resistive wiper in the (Alps?) potentiometer is more linear higher in its range, where it’s less resistive. That’s why 10-2 is a target. The trims on the JC2 and “gain” controls on the amp both perform a similar function, to shunt signal voltage to ground. The gain in the amp is a fixed value, around 28-29db. This value is used because of the THX standard which was adopted by many OEMs in the 90’s. The term “gain control” is misleading. I confirmed these details during a conversation with John Curl last year. Ideally, you want those trims and gain controls on the amp/pre all the way up, if possible. However, if you can’t get past 10-o-clock on the preamp at your desired listening level, you may want to trim the signal level. If you have a DAC (source) with a good quality digital volume control, or which has a variable output voltage setting, you can try attenuating at the source also. When I had the JC2 BP, this was the best solution to my ears. I set the output of my Mola Mola DAC to 2v (options are 0.6, 2 and 6v), trimmed out 3-6db and left the preamp and amp at their max trim settings. 6v was confirmed to be likely to overload the circuit by Parasound. For LP playback, volume settings weren’t an issue. A typical phono preamp, set correctly for cartridge gain usually doesn’t output as much voltage as a DAC. If you use Roon, you could also trim output in software also. Start with applying the 3db headroom setting. This can have a side benefit of avoiding intersample overs with certain DACs. A final option (be careful) if your DAC has a really good digital volume control is to set the DACs input to home theater bypass mode (BP model only) and to use the JC2 exclusively as a source selector and buffer for the amp for that source. This removes the volume pot from the equation. Just make sure you turn the digital source down 20-30db before you engage this mode, then work your way up slowly or you risk damaging your speakers. You can set peak volume in Roon if that’s your volume control to avoid an accidental max volume scenario.

@arizeagumadu5184

10 күн бұрын

@@davewin1792 I used to have a JC5 then upgraded to a Gryphon Essence. Honestly it wasn't a big jump in sound quality, I would say the JC5 was 90% of the Gryphon. What surprised me was when I got a Pass Labs XA25 and that little amp was in a higher league than both the JC5 and Essence. The Pass was significantly more transparent, more holographic and had better articulated bass. I have efficient speakers so power isn't an issue.

The Tortuga Audio LDR`s do it for much less money ! Transparently musical across the board. Clarity is the first thing that comes to mind. No snob appeal but I`d put it up against to anything out there if you want uncolored sound.

Considering both noise and distortion, if you research the physics, you will know that the very first stage contributes most of the noise and distortion. Thus, if your front end has very low noise and distortion, it translates to the whole system. If the attenuator is on the output of the first stage it could actually lower the noise and distortion when turned down, i.e. gain

Hay Tom, you have nailed it spot on. I have had many preamp in the past including Ref 3, but this one is best I have had so far. But here in Australia the price is 35K, I don’t know how they arrived at this price. Unfortunately Audio Research is pricing them selves out the market, maybe be this is why they are in financial crisis I suppose.

@nicoras8803

11 ай бұрын

The electronics are probably the cheapest in the system, the mechanics make the bulk of the price. If this thing was built into a cardboard box the performance would be the same at a fraction of the cost.

@AusGanesh

11 ай бұрын

@@nicoras8803 My friend thanks for the input, but I have many other high end components that are made of aluminium chassis but cost considerably less. Please note the AR Ref6 aluminium body is not milled out of block of aluminium, instead aluminium plates have been attached to 3 sides of metal box to look like the whole thing is made of aluminium. This will be considerably less expensive to make, but the high price is due to very high mark up to feed the fat dealership.

I wish Jay's Audio Lab reviewed this preamp...kinda feels like he makes reviews a little easier to understand for us average viewers.

@VideoArchiveGuy

Жыл бұрын

Too inexpensive for Jay these days when he normally uses either the Boulder 3010 or the DarTZeel NHB-18NS and wants to get a Gryphon.

@lovely88851

Жыл бұрын

Yea l know... I suspect he has a serious amp coming and probably the preamp. It sucks to admit it, but as he says " nobody does the ultra high end " but him on KZread. I don't see him being rivaled either because nobody wants to spend a million dollars a year to entertain us for free 😂

@jbsaudio

Жыл бұрын

He owned a Ref6SE and had it in his system in his early videos.

how come no-one is reviewing the LS 28 SE ?...why? ..why?

@ridirefain6606

Жыл бұрын

On You Tube there is one review of LS28 SE posted. Just do a search for it and you should find it.

@carlos2bass

Жыл бұрын

Didn’t Steve Gutenberg already did?

@Entitaet69

4 ай бұрын

kzread.info/dash/bejne/d2alr9lqg8TOe7Q.html

I am still in Ref 3 and Ref 110 land.

I have ref 5SE and DCS Bartók. To my ears, Ref 5SE is in a different league.

I have this wonderful preamp coupled with one of the best amp produced by AR ref 75. I love the more recent ref 160s that is much more informative while the ref 75 is overall more musical.

It looks like a car, radio and a dashboard!

Measurements will confirm the claim straight wire with gain,thd of 0.000001% etc

It seems advances are often made by people who don’t follow conventional thinking. People who don’t assume anything. Who constantly seek truth and new ideas.

Looks like a old car, radio and a dashboard

Hi great reviews, but…. Would you kindly stop calling your viewers boys and girls, I’m 70 thx

@don7680

Жыл бұрын

Yes, bored with it.

@tomhirschel8524

Жыл бұрын

Hello old men. :) He's just being polite!

@FOH3663

Жыл бұрын

It's fine ... it's his presentation. He's not directing that, he's not calling us boys and girls. Saul Goodman

@michaelmyers7416

Жыл бұрын

I am 75 and ❤️ Love the address: boys and girls

@Nick2842

Жыл бұрын

@@tomhirschel8524 if he was being polite he’d say ladies and gentlemen

Toobes don't last. And toobes ain't good at reproducing low bass.

I have a copy of the abso!ute sound volume1 number1 given to me by a friend who worked there.