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Audio Refinement Complete owners: please advise

I would like to hear from other ARC owners RE: what speakers they are driving w/ this amp. I have received very conflicting suggestions and am not sure how to proceed. Can ARC handle large floor-standers such as Paradigm Ref. Studio 100V2, or am I confined to monitors with thsi integrated? My room is 17x28 w/ 15 ft. ceilings. I listen to acoustic Jazz, 60's/70/s rock, singer- songwriters (Hiatt, Thompson, Prine, etc.), some folk and country. Like some volume but not ear-bleed levels. I'd appreciate any suggestions. Thanks!
stuartk
viridian's avatar
viridian
4,184 posts
 
I don't own one, but currently have a Complete Alpha on loan from another Audiogonner, so at least I speak from experience. It really doesn't have enough punch to drive my 89db sensitive Paradigm Studio 20 mini monitors in an 8'X12' spare room. Nice for folk music and female vocal though. YMMV.
ssglx
203 posts
 
I am very happy with my Complete running Soliloquy 5.0 monitors. I've had it at very high levels and have heard some hardness and compression, but not to point of clipping. I do use rather lively and bass-solid cables, and have felt with some cables that I was a bit limited.
I have also run several of the Soliloquy floorstanders with it on audition and it could run and control them quite well.
stuartk OP
174 posts
 
Thanks for all the suggestions... too late to follow advice to buy speakers first, unfortunately. All of the copies of "high end audio bible for dummies who are not rich" were checked out of my local library. But I will pursue these leads.
s7horton
1,065 posts
 
Viridian,
Are you using the studio 20 v3? Those are a little more efficient than the v1 or 2.
viridian's avatar
viridian
4,184 posts
 
S7, no version 1. The amp tends to congeal at rather moderate levels, I should give you more specifics, but I will not be home to take out my sound level meter tonight. Sounds fine on small jazz and folk and female vocal, OK on moderate progrock like Steely Dan. Useless on rock like Ten Years After, Hendrix, or Led Zep. Leave your Clash records at home. YMMV
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