Waiting and nervous about the ARC 75

[farflungstar]

Okay so whilst some may say my opinions are expectation bias here's what i think of the 75 after an initial critical listening session.

My worries about single ended to balanced were unnecessary.

The top of the range Cardas connectors work really well - zero hum or noise. There is only silence with my ear up against the Tannoys. Great. However I hate connectors so will ask speedy Steve to knock me up a cable.

Okay so how does it sound?

To be honest I had expected it to sound less sweet than the 300b/845 I'm used to and yes it is, but marginally. What it has is an incredibly wide, tall and deep soundstage with tremendous definition and resolution. Timbre and nuance is the best I've heard. The treble is extended beyond anything I've heard in my system before, midrange is stunning, and the bass is breathtaking - I've never heard such tonallity to bass, or such power. It grips the Tannoys perfectly, letting them breath but not get unruly - stunning. I would say it has the effortlessness of a big solid state amp twinned with the beauty of valves.

Of course I need new valves but even so I am over the moon with what I'm hearing. It's been a long journey, but this year wth the addition of the Tannoys and the Reed, and now the 75 I feel like I'm where I wanted to be.

Fit and finish is exemplary, though the functional look isn't what I'm used to. Operation is a dream and the amp sounds fabulous almost from cold. Bias adjustment is fiddly but easy.

So - the question. I loved my Carys, the look of them, their sound - have I made the right choice? Without a doubt! I can understand why 3 of 5 reviewers bought one.

[Idlewithnodrive]

Sweet

[Bigman80]

Great news. I'm sure the performance will only improve with familiarity and new valves.

Congratulations!

Sent from my EVA-L09 using Tapatalk

[brian2957]

Great news Adrian . I could most certainly live with the looks of your new amp , particularly if it gave the results you have described .

[TheMooN]

Why do you consider that new valves are required?

[farflungstar]

Only because the seller said they had been 'well used'.....

[walpurgis]

Why do you consider that new valves are required?

That question crossed my mind too.

[TheMooN]

I don't quite recall whether the 75 sports an LCD ammo counter on the circuit board....If so check the clock on the units valves there, either way the KT's should be good for 2000 hours, and you will most likely drop dead before the 6h30's do so!

[farflungstar]

My reason for wanting new tubes is down to doubt. Emporium originally listed the valves having had 350 hours use. But in a private email when asking if everything was 100% okay they suggested new ones as they had been well used. They sound great so I'm in no rush - but better safe than sorry I think.

[struth]

certainly should get more than that out of valves