Audio Research's Reference 160M MkII Mono Amplifiers Review
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- Опубліковано 6 сер 2024
- Tom Martin reviews Audio Research's Reference 160M MkII Mono Amplifiers, their unique tonal color, clarity, and dyanmic stability. Listen in to learn more!
At 18:45 Tom meant Stratocaster not Telecaster
00:00-01:58 General Overview
01:58-06:23 Specs, Modes, Power
06:23-10:50 Characteristic #1
10:50-15:14 Characteristics #2 & #3
15:14-19:20 Characteristics #4 & #5
19:20-21:50 A Note about Power Output
21:50-24:54 Summary & Conclusion
24:54- Brief Coda on Triode VS. UltraLinear Mode
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Well presented review of a beautiful amplifier from one of the great high end companies. I will never have the financial resources to contemplate amplifiers of even a third of the price so this video will have to be as close as I get to this product. Fortunately we live in a great era where musical satisfaction can be had at much more accessible prices. Still...
You know, one of the crazy things about high end audio is, often times what we can’t hear can be as important as what we can. Tom you pointed this out so well. Myself having stepped into this world with the Parasound JC5, and how staggeringly good, but subtle at the same time great, great amplification can be. We really have to experience it to even know what it means. Everything you described makes all the sense in the world once you get a taste of it. The moral of the story is how well much of this music was recorded in the first place. Tom fantastic review as always, and we really appreciate your expertise.
My experience with the JC3+. The noise isn't there.
PARASOUND jc5? cAN'T EVEN BE MENTIONED IN THE SAME ROOM WITH THE AR 160. JC5 solid state and made in Taiwan? get rid of that thing and get a real high end amp.
@@silversurfer3636 Listen to it (JC5) then come and tell me how kick ass it is :)
Excellent review! Image density is something very special and a subset was a term that I believe Harry Pearson used, image specificity (separation). An Orchestra actually sounds like an Orchestra, many of the individual instruments present separately from each other and yet the entire soundstage remains intact like 'you are there'.
I had a Ref160S (the stereo version of this) for about a year. "Upgraded" to D'agastino stuff. Still trying to decide if I made the right move. You can't beat Tubes for vocals.
Which D’ag progression or momentum? Thank you
@@andyrocha progression
Fantastic review Tom! Your review of the 160M MkII was very easy to follow and laid out beautifully. I am now a new subscriber.
I heard some AR monos with the granite Acora speakers and was blown away.. The best yet, for me.
Thanks for the review. How about reviewing some of AR’s less expensive models, including an integrated amp?
Sounds like Tom really, really liked these amps.
Thanks for the timestamps, very helpful. I bet the amps sounds great but at that price point especially I’d get them in silver.
Thanks, have been a longtime ARC fan, as I have: SP3A-1, SP6, D75 & two D75A -- all recapped, etc. Still sound great.
I'ma always amazed by your reviews because you explain in a very simple but detailed way the features of the products. I've been an Audio Research user in the past and the main qualities have always loved were delicacy, finesse, detailed and clear tonality that couldn't find in other tube amps.
Nice review of a lovely ARC power amp. What is really needed, however, in comparison is a review of the new McIntosh MC3500 MkII, which is a bit cheaper, more powerful, has great build quality, and certainly equal pedigree.
Very excellent review.. My dynaudio C5s are very low spl of 84… db..
Damping factors are important to my system and also for your Magico A5s
My Belles class A monos have 4000 damping.. Great job explaining everything…
Another great review, Tom!! I find that I have always preferred Pentodes run as Pentodes, Triodes run as Triodes, and beam tetrodes run as beam tetrodes..... as opposed to a non-Triode strapped into Triode mode. Also, WHO DOESN'T LOVE VU-METERS?!!!? 😍👍
Audio, high-end or otherwise, is quite subjective and relative. I can't afford these myself, and I'm not into tube amps (too afraid of a disaster); I'm quite happy with my McIntosh MC501s. Nevertheless, Audio Research makes great gear and I'm sure these sound really good. I have their LS3 solid-state preamp which served well from 1994 until 2013 with no complaint. As for these 160M monos, they're gorgeous. Yes, you can get good sound for less but whether it's "better" is another question and not one I would get into; the relativity and subjectivity of it makes the question too vague for me. Build quality, parts quality, labor, place and scale of manufacture, etc. play into gear prices as well. If I were going to go for tube amplification and money wasn't an issue, the 160Ms would be on the list.
BTW, I never Saw SRV with a Telecaster; I saw him use only Strats.
What recordings did you use during reveiw? Great vid!
Looks like a meaningful upgrade vs the version 1. ARC website shows the upcoming 320M monoblocks. I am surprised they brought out 160M Mk2 first.
I always appreciate and greatly enjoy the context you bring to your reviews. You're at a totally different level than many reviewers and I for one sincerely thank you for the work you put into these!
Great review--wish I had the space and money for these (I currently have a REF150 SE driving Quad ESL-63s)--your C. Bechstein t-shirt rocks!
I dig your take on gear. That piece could be worth more than the asking price.
Not a big ARC fan. I LOVE my pair of VAC 452 IQ Musicblocks in mono one to each speaker (Sonus Faber Aida 2's). The realism and clarity for the price point I have not seen matched. I love the tube sound. It's distortion but very pleasing to the ear. You can have technically flat response rooms and gear that sound absolutely horrible but measure well. The end of the day it's about what the music and sound does for your soul and happiness. So buy the gear you find enjoyment in for what you can afford. Way back in the day as a teen I started out with a pair Of Cerwin Vega's home speakers and Kenwood all in one receiver. Back then Onkyo was higher end all in one.
Regardless of the price and performance… Those UV meters are absolutely gorgeous. Best on the market and makes the blue McIntosh VU meters look just ok.
I get your review of these exceptional amps 100%. But it appears by some of the comments, that many of you just don't get it, and I truly feel sorry for you.
Thanks for the great review 👍🏽🤙🏽
I would think that triode mode sounds great with chamber music or small group acoustic jazz .
Nice job on the review. I think you relayed the nuance of the sound of ARC gear very well. I have spent a lot of time with the initial version of these mono-blocks. It most likely be my next upgrade but at nearly 40K I am looking at the 160S as well. In researching it, many afficionados found the first generation of the 160 M a bit clinical. Has the MK II version been voiced to be bit more romantic or has it retained the same sonic signature of its older sister?
ARC is reknown for their hefty power supplies and large reserve of filtering capacitors to deliver that fast transient. Other companies follow this, as in the Gryphon Essence stereo amp; it cooks up 25 watts/pc but it has something like 500,000 uF of storage. While ARC does not go to that length, although my ARC Class D DS450M mono each has 180,000 uF of storage, & the amp is indeed dynamic. Back to these ARC monos, those amps are using KT 150 tubes, which are big power tubes. That tube is almost 2x more powerful than KT88s and 6550 power tubes, which are still quite common. A big ARC mono will have the juice to control a 87dB speaker. If were talking about something like 82 to 84 dB efficient speakers, well then, that would give most any medium power amp a run for its money. Next, this fella should know ARC is not a thick & syrupy tube design, say like early Mac gear, but its sound signature has always been about just right of neutral, and a clean, clear and open mid and top end. While I'm glad he likes these amps, when ARC cooks up their top teir amp, it's going to sound terrific; it's too bad this fella didn't have a Ref 6SE or Ref 10 preamp and perhaps even a LS 28 SE, which would have really made that amp sing.
I have a modest ARC I/50 integrated on hand…I think it’s sounds great and I enjoy it very much, but hope to move up one of these days and get in to their higher end models…for now I can only dream!
Love tubes monoblocs.
I have air tight ATM 3 monos...very musical ,image,ASTONISHING dynamics and bass
This video just popped into my feed since I love music and HiFi. I could not write and mention how "humble" caprices of "ours" are. "There is something profoundly wrong wrong when one family own more wealth the bottom 130 millions of Americans" G. Orwell.
Im still rocking the Ref 110 and Ref 3. 😂😂😂 I guess it will be another 20 years before I get to hear these.
Nicely explained
What about the depth of the sound stage with these amps ? Which tubes are suppose to be known for ?
What about the front end? I wonder how these would pair with a digital preamp like a NAD M33(in preamp config) or upcoming M66? Maybe heresy to some. But the NAD criticism is it is too perfect and I wonder if the 160s would tone that down/ smooth it a bit? Could be a nice combo.
I just subscribed! Because of this guy! well, and because I just bought an ARC preamp.
What preamp did you use or would you recommend?
I have heard the positives you are talking about with S5 Mk II speakers with Mcintosh tube amps, where the Mac SS amps didn't quite cut the mustard. So what I think you are talking about more a quality of the speaker and constant throughout the Magico line than with tube amps.
SRV played a Stratocaster exclusively, except on a rare occasion where he played an acoustic guitar. Roy Buchanon was a Telecaster man.
I had a few years back 4 x EAR 549’s mono block valve amps
(800 pure watts) which literally shook the bottoms of your trousers like you were in the wind or if you were a portly kind of person your belly would literally shake 🤣
I guess you did not listen to a lot of tube amps because there are many today that sound as fast and detailed even in bass regions than the best solid state amps. And for a lot less money than this, too. People you can say who am I to tell you but try a pair of audio valve tube amps like the Challenger for 8900 a pair. I heard a lot of gear over the last 40 years and even a 30.000 pair of soiled state amps can’t do what they do. Some come close but you always feel that something’s missing in comparison. The challengers are also about 150w per channel and they have Auto bias.
One moral of the review: WHEN a vacuum tube circuit sounds toob THEN it's really bad. Same, mutatis mutandis, for "solid state".
Such "character" may hide other issues and make it pleasant to listen to, but by all means, it should be neutral.
The 50s and 60s had all studios - recording, mixing, mastering, and broadcasting - run off tubes and generally there was no "toob" sound, but rather it was all neutral.
One thing that helped, way back was the limited dynamic range of gramophone discs ("records", "vinyl") that maybe offered 50 dB usable range. Recording situations took that into account, so in a studio recording of a symphony, the orchestra would play pppp (softest) sections louder and ffff (loudest) sections softer, with everything in between adapted. The recording engineer would only adapt recording volume when, and in a way, this would remain inaudible in the playback.
How hot do they run and will I be required to add more solar panels to my roof?
AR's tend to run relatively cool. My Line Magnetic 845 SET monoblocks generate significant heat. I would wager the AR is quite a bit cooler than mine.
Hi, At 6:50 you say - 'a tube amplifier with "Modern Efficiency" speakers'. What does 'modern efficiency' actually mean?? I can't imagine how that term relates to the vast array of (modern) speakers with massively different efficiencies, or even how that term could be used - it's nonesensical.
Mainly middle-aged (or older) guys can afford to buy this thing, so why use micro-small fonts on the front panel?
👏👏👏😳❤️
I need to make more money
Just like make believe that digital will make analog better than analog ..........hahaha.
The absolute sound is a bible for high performance sound equipment ........while I lived to achieve and get some absolute music .......reproduction .
KT120/150:170 re the new hype..........a prison market and a potential service problem for the future;.
Only connecting to music that does me forget the system Inuse is giving me the satisfaction of listening and stopping anallyzing the sound will connect to my soul .......
$38,000 to use around 1w or less of 150w available. Sounds like a good deal.
A friendly reminder on how power works at higher volumes, 100W compared to 10W is only 10dB louder. Most speakers with most music won't be taking much more than 5W other than for short peaks on dynamic material, unless you like to hurt your ears.
@@Tacet137Most amps live in the 1-3wpc realm for most of their lives. I love loud music but I also like 2-3 hr listening sessions at around 70db.
I love my Mark Levinson’s high power capabilities but I use it only occasionally. I use my 6 watt tube amp most times because at 65-75 db it’s pure magic. My low powered tube amp powers a 3 way (10” woofer in separate enclosure and mid/tweeter on top) and the bass is thundering without needing my 15” subs.
LoL, Coda 16.0 @ $17k 100watts A
Who actually convinced these manufacturers nowadays, that this 'microwave oven' look was aesthetically appealing?!
Dude made my day. Thank you
Half of the pleasure of owning valves is seeing that sweet glow. Why hide them?
One way or another this will heat your coffee
Some people like the triode mode............most like the UL mode because their speakers need a kick ikn tyhe A....SS..........most speakers today need high current , are too low an impedance for tube technology and have no microdynamics on low level ........
marrying a horse sithan elephant ........
Never met a triode that sounded better than UL mode
Problem is Tubes do a terrible job on the bass frequencies. Best to biamp with tubes and ss
Dang they seen you coming 38,000😂
My word... You are asserting that you can't find "better for less than $38,000"? Here again is a statement which shows why high end audio has gone completely off the rails. Of course you haven't heard "everything" under this price point, so yes, you "could" be wrong. But any reasonable, thinking person will instinctively know that it is very probable, if not a certainty, that in a blind test one can find dozens of amplifiers under $38k that will equal or exceed this one sonically. Not knocking this amp, but the hyperbole and abject nonsense has to stop. Come back to earth and explain why one might want to own this DESPITE the very high probability that one can get an equal or similar sonic experience for "merely" (say) half the amount or about $20k.
When compared to luxury watches $38k for some serious gear you’ll have for decades this doesn’t seem that crazy. Of course out of my snack bracket but I would be the last to say waste of money, if this checks all the boxes and you can afford it, why the hell not. 🤓
@@1999zrx1100 All fair, but doesnt address the "you cant get better for less" comment, which is the most galling aspect of the review.
@ the 22 min mark he admits there could be better for less but hasn’t heard every amplifier to be the judge. Can’t be more honest then that. 😊
people spend much more on cars.
& that $20k product an be adequately equaled for $10K, & so on. you may be overlooking human factors for which there is no consensus, such as "sonic experience". I suppose qualifiers address such minor matters; "reasonable thinking person", "instinctively", "very probable, if not a certainty". frankly, it's pretty obvious (to me alone) why one might (& does!) want to own such products.
Do a BLIND TEST...dare ya.. Otherwise u r "Full of it".
Have actual blind folk, I double dare ya.
Yeah, that mug is fine as a frogs hair
I wonder who can buy such an expensive equipment. I am in top 2% income bracket and even I cannot justify it (I can afford it in absolute terms, but I can also afford a Ferrari, but my brain will stop me as it fails to see value). Perhaps AR is pricing themselves out of the market. Just by using the word 'reference' should not cost 30, 40 or 50K.
It comes down to individual priorities: if i could afford it, i would spend 300K on a stereo system much more easier than on a car, most would say the opposite. Some like yourself, probably more wisely, would say: neither .
Why 401ks were invented
china is making decent tube amps 200 watts for around $1000
For over a half century, Audio Research has made the best amplification in the world - period. Along with Twin City neighbor Magnepan, builders of the best high end equipment on earth.
Spot on! But also let's not forget about St. Paul based, Atma-Sphere! (Oh, and DLK!)
Amazing amplifier, to bad they overprice themselves so that average person can't afford something like this new.
19k apiece!? This is not a good solution.
Stevie Ray telecaster? Whatever amp he used?
Dude sit down.
Another intelligence insulting reviewer appealing, it seems again, to people with more money than sense. Im out!😂
iem are the future......
That is wonderful ! Man I’d love to trade up but that $38,000.00 has got me financially embarrassed. Just alittle high for this old man. I wonder how much longer my Marantz 2325, 1976. Still Rocking ! I have been listening to that Marantz has pushed 4 Heritage Klipsch k- horns for over 30 years ! Quality product.
Valves are here to stay!
Typical shill video…TRUTH is for $38K these are all show, no go 👎
How do you get to Carnegie Hall?😁😁😁