Audio Research Reference 3

SCompRacer

Bought a nice ARC Ref 3 at a fair price to try in the mix. My first 6H30 tube pre. One 6550 and 6H30 in power supply, four 6H30's in the output. I'm running balanced out to amp, DAC is balanced in. Gotta get an external phono stage to connect the turntable.

I'll have at least four audiophile types here Saturday to voice their impressions. I didn't even have time to warm it up today, just wanted to power it up and made sure it worked.



Not my innards or rear panel pic, but they look the same.

EndersShadow

That right there makes me jealous lol...... Looks good.

dromunds

VERY sweet. What 6H30's are you gonna use?

GlennDog

Congrats! Very nice, indeed

SCompRacer

Thanks for the congrats!

dromunds wrote: »

VERY sweet. What 6H30's are you gonna use?

The low hour Electro-Harmonix 6H30Pi Gold pins it came with for now. It has a Sovtek 6550, would like to try better there, even if just a made in same plant one up in quality Tungsol. I'd rather not go with a pricey '58 Tungsol 6550 black plate at $385.

DSkip wrote: »

Is there an 'un'nice ARC Ref 3?

Saw some 7 out of 10's with face panel scratches I'd rather not have.

pitdogg2

Man that is SUPER SEXY Rich. You never cease to amaze me by the gear you get. When is the next audio fest at your place?

Dennis Gardner

Beautiful piece! Seems odd for them to use green for display color. So many others using blue that the green might seem out of place.......

SCompRacer

pitdogg2 wrote: »

Man that is SUPER SEXY Rich. You never cease to amaze me by the gear you get. When is the next audio fest at your place?

Thanks! After Axpona some of the guys are stopping over Saturday. Unsure if/when another get together will take place.

Dennis Gardner wrote: »

Beautiful piece! Seems odd for them to use green for display color. So many others using blue that the green might seem out of place.......

Thanks!

It matches the display of my diy DAC. On the Ref 3, you can dim in stages or turn display off if desired. They kept the same display for the Ref 5. Now I Don't like to look at them cause they are around $10K used.

GlennDog

Rich,
I just picked up a pair of tubes thru Andy @ Vintage Tube Services
616 454-3467 I've delt with him in the past, He's a good guy

No Afil

Tubes with him is a labor of love. He's very knowledgeable, very helpful and patient to boot w/ fair prices IMHO

I recommend you give him a call to see what he's got!!

Rock On!

Joey_V

Ref3 has always been a want of mine. Congrats!

vc69

My "partner in crime" in this hobby locally has the LS26 and the REF 3 has been on our short list for upgrades for some time. Being a hybrid, we have found that the 26 did not seem to respond to different tubes in a very noticeable way. I'm very curious what your thoughts are and would welcome a PM from anyone with suggestions of tubes to role into the 26. We have tried both brand new "stock" tubes and some Russian "military spec" tubes and couldn't really tell any difference.

Let us know of your impressions!

ZLTFUL

Rich, beautiful piece of kit there.
My buddy's shop is an ARC dealer so I get to see some pretty fantastic stuff come through his doors and the Ref 3 is one of my favorites of theirs.

Congrats on the purchase.

EndersShadow

So where's the Krell going Rich @SCompRacer

pitdogg2

SCompRacer wrote: »

pitdogg2 wrote: »

Man that is SUPER SEXY Rich. You never cease to amaze me by the gear you get. When is the next audio fest at your place?

Thanks! After Axpona some of the guys are stopping over Saturday. Unsure if/when another get together will take place.

Man been trying to get there for (Axpona) two years now, Again this year work stepped in and shot it down....I'm really bummed now:(

One of these days Rich...

erniejade

Congrats!!!!!!! I do love AR's tube preamps. Gives you the speed of SS but the wideness of tubes. Great piece!

Thorton

Rich, very nice pick-up. I'd love to hear the difference between the AR and your Krell with the SS8's. Enjoy and have fun Saturday.

brianle

Very nice! Congrats!

SCompRacer

Thanks for the kind words.

vc69 wrote: »

My "partner in crime" in this hobby locally has the LS26 and the REF 3 has been on our short list for upgrades for some time. Being a hybrid, we have found that the 26 did not seem to respond to different tubes in a very noticeable way. I'm very curious what your thoughts are and would welcome a PM from anyone with suggestions of tubes to role into the 26. We have tried both brand new "stock" tubes and some Russian "military spec" tubes and couldn't really tell any difference.

The LS27 is said to sound better than the Ref 3.

With 6H30's, not many choices. The desirable DR's fetch ~ $500 a matched quad. There are rumors that a lot of DR's sold are fake. Now the 6550, there are choices there. But I don't want to have to buy a $500 tube for this thing to sound good. Been that route before with tubes. The Sovtek 6550EW does OK, so do SED's. From reading forum posts, the 6550 gives more of a difference than 6H30's.

EndersShadow wrote: »

So where's the Krell going Rich @SCompRacer

Got a buddy that dibbed it already. Not sure I want to give it up yet.

DSkip wrote: »

Oh! By the way, WELCOME BACK TO TUBES!

Thanks but it's not a done deal yet...lol I've been wanting a 6H30 pre amp for some time. Really wanted a dual mono ModWright 36.5, but $10K new. The single chassis 36.5 is less but not as good sounding. I've read plenty of good things about the Ref 3 so it was also on my list.

We'll start with the KRC-HR. It's a great sounding pre amp, not lean sounding at all. Aaron is bringing his pet phono, a bottlehead Reduction MM stage with Integration upgrade. It has some mildly upgraded components. It did sound better than my Krell KSL phono board set to MM. I used my diy SUT with both. I want to hear how his pet does compared to the Krell Reference MC only phono board (four gain stages).

Then we'll toss the Ref 3 in, which will be kept heated up. I have a Project DS+ phono box. Sounds good set to MM with my SUT on the Ref 3. You really need an exceptional high output MC stage to beat a good MM with good SUT. We'll try Aaron's pet with the Ref 3 then.

What I like best, stays. Maybe both will stay....

EndersShadow

No worries Rich it woulda been too rich for my blood anyway lol.... But I still will keep track of it in case I hit the lotto heheheh

Ern Dog

How does it sound.

headrott

Excellent pre-amp Rich! Please let us know what you think of the 6H30 tube. IMO, I find them to be a tad sterile, but that's my taste.

Also, I forgot how beautiful your DAC is. Keep us informed on the listening session(s).

erniejade

How are you liking it so far?

SCompRacer

Axpona was a blast! Carl, Dan, Doug, Aaron and I attended. Dan is 76 and retired, but you wouldn't know it by the way he wanted to see everything there. He didn't want to stop and eat. Words of wisdom, "sink your teeth into the gear you haven't seen yet! Partake in the nutrition left out in many of the rooms" (big candy dishes...lol). Saturday they descended on my place.

The Ref 3 sounds fantastic! All agreed it should stay in the rack. Music sounded more full and rich. Mid-range and vocals had more air, sounded livelier. You get accuracy with smoothness. I felt the KRC-HR does bass better but the Ref 3 handles it well.

Carl said he got excited with Melody Gardot playing on vinyl. Since the Ref 3 doesn’t have a phono stage, Aaron was kind enough to bring his Bottlehead Reduction with Integration upgrade. That and my SUT makes for a stellar combination with my low output (.3mV) AT33PTG/II cart. I have ordered a Bottlehead Reduction w/Integration upgrade. It punches well above its weight.

The Ref 3 is a good fit. They suggest above 20K ohm input impedance for an amp, my KSA-250 is 47K. It sports a resistor ladder volume network, keeps track of and displays tube hours via remote (resettable by user when re-tubing). The remote provides control of everything I need. I even like the design.

erniejade

Looks fantastic!!

erniejade

I am a fanboy of arc preamps. I agree with what you say about the sound being fuller and rich. I find the newer arc in genral are just as detalied if not more as a good ss pre and fast without any bloat. There is just a magic sound to them. I have tried a few preamps but keep going right back to the sp16. I think since I like the arc "house sound" my only next step up is one like yours.

dkg999

My SP16L is a keeper. I haven't found anything better at the price point. Rich's Ref 3 just takes things to a whole different level. Enjoyed both the show and the afternoon at Rich's place!