A Very Sweet System! I love those vintage Infinity speakers.
Happy Listening!

jafant May 08, 2018 15:11

.
Thanks Pops and Gammajo.
.

mitch4t March 10, 2013 02:39

Wow Mitch...big time rig congratulations. Must sound incredible!

pops February 27, 2013 02:51

.
I previously had a Ref2 Mk2. It was head and shoulders over the X0.2. The X0.2 doesn't even belong in the same sentence with the Ref3...no contest. I got rid of the X0.2 as soon as I could. Now the Pass amps....that's another story, they are sublime.
.

mitch4t October 04, 2012 03:13

Hi Mitch. Great system. That room is positively cavernous! How does the ARC Ref 3 compare with the Pass Labs X0.2?

barrysandy October 04, 2012 01:03

Very cool space and gear - congratulations!

gammajo February 07, 2012 01:14

.
Got them in 2006. Had to replace the foam around the woofers once, no other problems. I think the foam around the woofers dry rot every five years or so. At $75 per speaker, it is an expected expense every five years. The way to go is, when one rots out, replace all of them. Because sure enough, they all start rotting one after another in the oncoming months. might as well do all of them at once and get it done with for another five years.
.

mitch4t May 03, 2011 01:32

Large place, system and and Chess set. Hope your GF doesn't follow the trend:^)~

tabl10s May 02, 2011 19:22

I bought them from a SE Florida audio dealer called Sound Advice (out of business now) in 1989 for $10K - the most expensive speakers I'd ever purchased. J. Gordon Holt reviewed them in Stereophile that year and loved them with the VTL-300 driving the panels which I also bought. I really had no concept of how big a room was required for these speakers and tried to make them work in my 12 X 15 living room at that time. Obviously they over powered the room (house?) - especially the awesome low end. I actually hauled them with me in a U-Haul when I briefly moved to Evergreen Colorado in 1993, but traded them on a pair of Mirage M1si's before moving back to Florida. Although I have a much bigger and better listening room today, these speakers need a room like you've got them in. Have long have you owned them? Have you had to repair anything?Your's still look fantastic.

lwhitefl April 29, 2011 19:58

Hi Microstrip.
Awesome. Thanks. I'm checking some Ref 3s now. Interestingly, the Ref 5s appear to be going in the second hand market for just a bit more (at times). so, will perhaps hold out a little for a Ref 5.
Thanks guys

shellphl September 02, 2010 00:12

Hi Shellphl,
I am using a Shunyata Hydra 8 and Andromeda Helix power chords with the ARCs.

microstrip August 31, 2010 22:39

Notec, thanks for the compliment.
---------------------
Shellphl,

Since I had Pass amps, I really wanted the X0.2 to work for me. I thought it would give me better system symmetry. But, it was just not up to snuff compared with the Ref2 Mk2 or the Ref3. Not even close. The X0.2 is an exellent preamp. It's just that the AR preamps are head and shoulders above it.

To me, the Ref3 is so good, I don't dare listen to the Ref5 or the Ref Anniversary. I have no self-control and I don't want to do anything financially irresponsible if I'm tempted.

mitch4t August 31, 2010 18:52

Thanks Microstip.
Your comments are music to my ears, as i really love the warmth of tubes. This is my very first high end system and I hope I can execute well.
I intend to purchase a ref 3 in a month or so, but will of course demo before buying.
ARC Anniversary...one day, one day.
Out of curiosity, are you using a power conditioner?
Thanks

shellphl August 30, 2010 23:01

Hi Shellphl,
I own the ARC Anniversary and bass detail and impact in my system is impressive. However, as always, system matching can change sound characteristics. Some Boulder amplifiers have 25 kohm input impedance and this can limit ultra bass performance when used with tube preamplifiers. Your JC1 has 100 kohm impedance and should be a perfect match with the Ref3.

microstrip August 30, 2010 16:51

Hi all, great link.
Mitch, I have a question regarding your comments on the ARC Ref 3 being so much better than the Pass X0.2.
I listened to the ARC Anniversary pre (paired with a Boulder SS amp) last week and loved the sound. The detail retrieval was awesome and my Yellowjackets album never sounded better.
However, when i switched to a gospel album, the bass/depth was unimpressive and without me saying anything, even the sales guy changed the setting on the Esoteric X1 (i think) to DSD to improve the bass.
The issue is that I'm now building a system (Bryston bcd and bda; Pass xono; Parasound JC1; Marantz TT and Revel Salon 1s) and my heart was set on a tube pre (Ref 3). However, now I'm also willing to consider SS (may get a deal on an X0.2), but have never heard it and am thus curious about your own experience and the experience of others here.
Thanks.

shellphl August 30, 2010 14:10

Fabulous space for listening to music! I have a squeezebox duet jacked into a Havana DAC and it is truly a wonderful performer.

notec August 18, 2010 03:59

System edited: Just added a Benchmark DAC-1 to kick up the performance of the Squeezebox.

mitch4t June 29, 2010 05:13

Wow,wow,wow..your system is just too cool. All and a game of chess too.

glenfihi June 28, 2010 08:45

Vernneal...my main table is a Michell Gyrodec SE Mk II Turntable, my secondary table is an Oracle Delphi. The VPI is my record-cleaning machine.

mitch4t February 04, 2010 19:25

I really like the VPI table

vernneal January 28, 2010 03:19

Great system Mitch - would love to hear those speaks! I see you have ARC PH 5 - I have one as well and love it. If I had money to burn I would get the ph7 just because...well why not!

Great job assembling an awesome system.

pops January 26, 2010 18:57

.
I used a Signal Cable power cord when I moved the preamp and the stock cord wasn't long enough to reach in the new location. The Audio Research stock cord sounds fine to me.

I actually have a full set of Silver Resolution cables that I run in the system 6 months of the year and I use the Signal Cable premium copper cables the other 6 months of the year. I don't prefer one over the other....it gives me a different and fresh perspective on my recordings. The copper being a little warmer and the silver a little more precise.
.

mitch4t October 11, 2009 04:25

What a great system! I just purchased a REF 3 and love the sound. I see you also like Frank's Signal Cable. Currrently I use a combination of Synergistic Research and Signal Cable through out my system. I'm thinking of replacing the REF 3's powercord with a Signal Cable. What would you think of replaceing all of my Synergistic with Siganl cable, and which Signal Cable do you think would be the best choice for the REF 3? I'm thinking of Silver Resolution.
Thanks,
Steve

sgr October 11, 2009 00:22

System edited: . Added an X-Box 360 and a Roku player to stream movies from Netflix. .

mitch4t October 31, 2008 02:58

All I can say is you are a very fortunate fellow.

foster_9 October 29, 2008 12:04