What's a contender to an Audio Reference 5 SE?

Tsushima1, ... no doubt when Bo did the Ref 5 SE shootout, presumably with the Pass XP-20, he might have literally shot the Ref 5 SE. No wonder it didn't compare well.

IME, ARC gear sounds best when you don't shoot it.

Fortunately, Bo didn't listen to the Ref 5 SE under a gob of whipped cream (ala the Three Stooges skit of similar theme) or under water.

Listen to a CAT preamp and you won't think of the ARC REF 5 SE again.

Check out these:
Wavac PR-Z1
Einstein "The Preamp"
Nagra Jazz
Symphonic Line "The Enlightenment"
Conrad Johnson ART (no other model)

All of these will drive the Plinius very well and are some of the best preamp in this price class.

I really appreciate all of the responses. Well ok, most of them. I'm not going to Radio Shack. :-) I'm definitely going to look into some of the suggestions though.

@Jafant
Thanks for your suggestions. It's interesting to me that you characterized cabling as more important than the preamp. I'm really not interested in opening up the cable can of worms. I'm actually more than pleased with my combination of Dream State Audio (Dream Catcher and Lucid) and Silver Circle Audio Vesuvius power cords, Silver Circle Audio Bi-Wired Monorails speaker cables, Silver Circle Audio XLR Interconnects (pre to amp) and High Fidelity RCA Interconnects for analog front end.

@Georgelofi
You are 100% correct sir. IF I keep the EMM Labs gear I have no need of a separate preamp. However, I'm contemplating moving away from that gear, in which case I will be in the market for a pre and a CD/SACD player.

@Pani
Do you mean the Conrad Johnson GAT? Isn't the ART an amp? It may not be fully founded but I'm a bit turned off of Conrad due to lack of XLR connections. I experienced a noticeable improvement over RCA from the EMM Labs DCC2 to the Plinius using XLR so I'm not sure I want to give that up. I may also want that connection flexibility when I look for a CD/SACD player as well. But I will certainly check out these units you mentioned! Thanks again!

Audio is listening and comparing as much as possible. At the end the best is the one who is the most interesting.

The differences in quality is huge and often there are many who can create a much lower endresult. We always compare the same way and use the same parts during shootouts.

Each single tool we test we take serious and the brand doesn't garantee anything.

We use Total Sound all the time during tests. When all these parts are there, the level of emotion and excitement is higher.

Parts of Total Sound:

- Soundrealism: you want and need an instrument to sound
like in real. I use Pass labs amps to the max for this. It
is the focus on sound of each different instrument and
voice. For example: you want to hear the difference
between 2 acoustic guitars of a recording. I always want
to hear the full palette in the mid freq. The timbre is an
essential part of listening to music

- 3 dimensional soundstage: this is the most exiting part
of audio in general. This sets your beloved music in full
3Din front of you. During listening you can focus on each
individual part of a recording.The best sets can even give
instruments the shape as in real.

- Intimate sound:instruments and voices are very small in
dimension and very direct in sound. You want a realistic
proportion of instruments and voices. Intimate sound has
a very big influence on our emotion. During many acoustic
classical live concerts I learned how small a vice and
instruments were in proportion.

- Blacks: The space between the instruments and voices
with their acoustic information during the recording. This
is the level of physical appearance. You want to touch
every single instrument and voice of the recording.
Germans use the word'darstellung'.

- timing and speed: it is a very important part for
authorityand control of the overall sound. Better timing
will give you less acoustic limitaions. But also a more
natural sound.Biside this you also can reveal more layers
of the low freq.

- Resolution: you want to hear all details of the
recording.And it needs to be physical apparent.

- Air: This part gives the instruments and voices the
freedom during listening. Separation makes your music so
much more appealing.

- A big freq. response: When your system goes deeper in
freq.response you will hear more information of a
recoding. Thisalso has a big influence on our emotion.
People can heartill maximum 20 khz. But...the freq.
response above it still influences our brains.

- articulation of voices: how clear you can hear word
endings, breathing of singers and moving lips.

- heights: When I received 2 sets of the Audioquest Wel
Signature xlr's it became more clear than ever. It makes
listening to music different and even more appealing.