Audio Research REF 75 vs VAC Phi 200

Thanks Al. Your point underscores the importance of knowing what a speaker designer had in mind when voicing the speaker.

Of course, one may trip into a great sounding speaker that can do triple duty, i.e., mate with: (i) a very low output impedance SS amp, or (ii) a high output impedance tube amp, and/or (iii) a "low'ish" output impedance tube amp. Presumably, such an all-star speaker would have: (i) a ruler flat 8 ohm impedance function across the acoustic spectrum; (ii) a zero phase angle function across the acoustic spectrum; and (iii) high sensitivity.

And we should all believe in the Tooth Fairy too. :)

Being within driving distance of the company for service means a lot. Therefore I'd audition the ARC and if you love the sound, go for it.

I recently read a thread where people were having issues with their ARC amps, and it was mentioned that some preamps do not play well with ARC amps and could cause problems with them. I have no idea about the details of this or if it's correct, but I'd at least look into this and see if your preamp is a good match if you ultimately decide on an ARC amp. I'm sure others know a lot more about this, but just wanted to bring it up just in case it's a legitimate issue. Best of luck.

Good point by Soix.

Here is the thread that he appears to be referring to. Apparently the manuals for some ARC amps indicate that if non-ARC preamps are used with them damage may occur. The link opens at a post in which I speculated about possible explanations.

Whatever the reason may be for their statement, my suspicion is that it would be unlikely to be an issue with most non-ARC preamps, but I suppose it conceivably could be an issue with some.

Best regards,
-- Al

I have a REF 75 and there's nothing in the manual warning about using the amp with non-ARC preamps.

I don't drive it with a ARC preamp.

The REF 75 only has balanced inputs, so you do need a preamp with real balanced outputs.