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Stupidgood: Ars Sonum

There are lots of "terms of art" used by audiophools to describe sound and equipment. I propose a new one - stupidgood - a piece of equipment that blows you away, as good as it gets (more or less), and the price or the looks of it makes you incredulous as to how good the equipment is. Of course, I did not come with the term; that would by Bobby P. (Mr. von Merlin) describing the Ars Sonum integrated amplifier. I've had separates from ARC, Joule, LAMM, and CAT, and I can tell you, the Ars Sonum is stupidgood driving Merlin VSM-MXes, which can driven very easily be this little 30 watt gem.
pubul57
david_berry
211 posts
 
I have had mine now for over a year and have not even thought of replacing it. It is driving the Merlin VSM-MX.
That's about the best compliment that I can pay to this integrated amp as I used to switch equipment out every few months for years.
pubul57 OP
3,712 posts
 
And just to give a little more weight to the assessment, I've been using a CAT JL2, and I believe David had been using a Joule VZN 100 - both outstanding amps, and especially so with the Merlins -- in that company, the Ars is a viable option (with the Merlins) to these great separates.
jj2468
280 posts
 
I love the concept of "Smartbad". I'm afraid that, for me, most high end audio equipment falls into that category. I think there are a lot of well intentioned, but ultimately off the mark, manufacturers and retailers.

I've not heard the sonum, but I own or have owned CAT and Joule stuff and those manufacturers get it. If an audiophile who likes that stuff endorses the ars sonum, it makes me interested in hearing it. YMMV, IMHO, etc. Jeff
pubul57 OP
3,712 posts
 
Jeff, I think there is a lot of Smartbad equipment out there that I have heard over the years, but I won't name names since others may own the equipment and be perfectly happy with it. It is more fun for me to talk about the equipment that has satisfied me and pass on the good word. I agree with you 100% about Joule and CAT (and I suspect Atmasphere too)and the Ars Sonum is in that class as a small 30 watt integrated. I've enjoyed all these amps with the Merlin VSM-MXs which I am unlikely to ever replace unless they are upgraded in the future. With the Merlins, the Ars are magnificent, careful system matching with other speakers is necessary (also true with the Joules). Unlike the CATs, they will not work with everything out there - I've not yet heard a better amp than the CAT.
santacore
6 posts
 
Thanks for adding your input guys.

I'm tired of changing seperates every 6 months and just want to get back to listening to music and not thinking about the equipment. The ARS seems like the right piece to accomplish that goal. The Merlin TSM's, which I recently purchased, are the first speakers that I've owned that truly made me forget about a physical speaker and allowed me to just enjoy the music. It sounds like adding in the ARS is going to be just the right match to take me to the next level.

I can't wait to hear the ARS/TSM combination.
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