jamar

Greetings.....another newbie with questions......Miami res with a new purchase......Summit X speakers.......nothing else but a 60 inch TV.....need guidance for an amp, pre amp and cables that will make the speakers sound the best......listening preferences......classical, instrumentals, vocals.....no rock or very loud stuff......I realize that listening enjoyment is very subjective and auditioning amps and cables is important, however, a started point would be great.....any suggestions would be greatly appreciated......thanks in advance

jamar, welcome aboard !

Regarding your equipment selection, plenty of great gear to choose from, start by purusing the members systems threads with Summit's, Spires and Montis. that will give you a hint as to what we like. You can click on my system link to see where my prefrences lie......good luck !

Jamar, I don't know how well-heeled you are, but don't forget the used equipment market (Audiogon, etc).

Thanks Bernard for your response.....I looked at your system and will take a little research to understand all the details......I am looking for an amp to start things off with my system and listened to the Audio Research Ref 150....any thoughts on that amp......I have an old B&K 305 on the rack that is playing the system at the present but will be discarded soon......I thought the AR's sounded very nice....any thoughts on speaker cables for the summit x's.....jamar

twich54.....thanks for the info.....I responded to Bernard's post and I was wondering if you can also see that post......so as not repeat myself......I recently auditioned the AR Ref 150....to my ears sounded very nice with the summit x speakers.......and thoughts on this amp.....will also be looking for a preamp and speaker cables for the summit.......thanks for the help....jamar

Welcome to the forum, Jamar. The AR Ref 150 is a superb amp that will sound wonderful powering your Summit X's. If you go that route, I would suggest pairing it with their Ref 5 SE preamp. I have one of its predecessors, the Ref 3, and it is a top notch preamp. You can't go wrong with this amp and pre fronting a pair of Summit X's. Enjoy!

jamar, I agree with Rich. As for speaker cables, your best bet is to borrow some from The Cable Company until you find a pair that you like.

jamar said:

twich54I was wondering if you can also see that post......so as not repeat myself......I recently auditioned the AR Ref 150....to my ears sounded very nice with the summit x speakers.......and thoughts on this amp

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Great amp(s), but I will tell you .......(ARC aficianados don't shoot me) the Rouge M-180's will hold their own. I've listen recently (Overture, Wilmington, De. before they gave up the ARC line) to the Ref's driving Summit X's and came away satisfied I made the right purchase of my Rouges.

.....will also be looking for a preamp and speaker cables for the summit.......thanks for the help....jamar

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again, per my system, I love the flexibility and sonics of my new ARC LS-27 (recently purchased dealer demo) combined with my Signal Cable www.signalcable.com speaker cables.

If you do not want to go the route of tubes and $$ are a consideration I would suggest looking @ Parasound gear, their big monoblocks and pre amp are worthy contenders IMO.....

twich54 said:

Great amp(s), but I will tell you .......(ARC aficianados don't shoot me) the Rouge M-180's will hold their own. I've listen recently (Overture, Wilmington, De. before they gave up the ARC line) to the Ref's driving Summit X's and came away satisfied I made the right purchase of my Rouges.

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Dave, Overture gave up the ARC line for "Rouge" ? I'm amazed! Mind you, I've never listened to "Rouges". Why did you buy an ARC preamp instead of a "Rouge"?

Bernard said:

Overture gave up the ARC line for "Rouge" ?

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Bernard, no, they just dropped the ARC line, not eactly sure what happened there, Terry has had the line since day one. They picked up Cary in it's place.

I'm amazed! Mind you, I've never listened to "Rouges".

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best dollar value in tubes, IMO

Why did you buy an ARC preamp instead of a "Rouge"?

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I beleive the LS-27 gives the best versitility, sound for the $$ spent. Rouge while a fine sounding unit is not as flexible

Thanks for the input all and thanks Rich for joining in with the recommendation.....will try to find a retailer to audition the preamp......this may be a very elementary question but do these tube devices require a lengthy warm up and how much heat do they emit.....I did an a/b audition with the AR Ref 150 and a McIntosh solid state and there was a noticeable difference with the Ref 150 sounding very impressive.....jamar

jamar said:

this may be a very elementary question but do these tube devices require a lengthy warm up and how much heat do they emit

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They sound great right off the bat, but really shine after a few minutes of warming up. Five to ten minutes at most. The preamps emit a little heat, but the amps can emit quite a bit of heat. My CJ Premier 140 has eight 6550 tubes, and it puts off a LOT of heat.

jamar, as Rich said, tubes need to warm up, stabilize. In so far as heat, again it's the driver tubes of the amps that generate the most

OK, first, in full disclosure, I'm an ARC guy, but I think they made their bones with Pre-amps, not Power Amps. I'm using a classic upgraded ARC Pre, the SP-11, MK II, with upgraded Caps and wiring. I also use an ARC Ref CD-8, and had used a modded ARC SP-6 Pre-amp for years. I do have a set of PrimaLuna Mono Blocks coming this week which I am eagerly anticipating. I'm also a fan of rolling tubes. My most current "tweak" on my Pre-amp, in fact, was installing a set of German made (circa 1968) Telefunken 6922's and I thought that absolutely made the unit sing. One gripe I do have about ARC's tube selection is while they do burn them in and give you a pre-tested tube, whether as an original unit or an OEM NOS replacement, there are, without any question, better tubes out there to be had (after the appropriate research, of course). The Rogue "Medusa" that I am using at the moment for my amplification (and that "Twich" also just auditioned) also benefited hugely by replacing the original tubes they were shipped with. I will report on my listening results with the PrimaLuna units as they burn-in.

Scotty

http://www.martinloganowners.com/forum/showthread.php?14619-System-461-(Theos)

Dave, it's actually the output tubes that generate the most heat.

Scotty, I'm using the ARC SP9, and when the gain pot went noisy I replaced it with a DACT stepped attebuator; it made a huge improvement top to bottom. It was $200, but well worth it. I suspect that the SP 11 has the same type of pot.

Hi Bernard. I had my tech go through the unit top-to-bottom in December, when we redid the Caps, wiring, and a few of the circuits. I doubt it ever sounded as good as it does now, and the Telefunkens were a more recent acquisition (about a month ago), and Kevin Deal (Upscale Audio) thought they were the best sounding tube he had ever heard, and I won't argue as they apply to this unit. Of course, 6 of them cost the best part of a grand, LOL. Now I'm trying to rationalize getting the 6H30 "Supertube" for my CD-8...almost another grand. I upgraded the regulator tube already, but that's the easy part. (PS: I had the gain pot go noisy in my SP-6 some years ago). I also have the ARC units mounted in a Samson Rack (by Mapleshade), on an additional Maple Isolation Platform, on Isoblocks and mounted with their Brass Heavyfeet Footers.

Scotty

Scotty

Bernard said:

Dave, it's actually the output tubes that generate the most heat.

.

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Bernard, that's what I meant........but you knew that !

twich54 said:

Bernard, that's what I meant........but you knew that !

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Of course. In stones-busting mode........

Scotty, it may sound great, but you should still consider the stepped attenuator. It was a real "WOW!" moment when I plugged it back in. I went that route after reading about it in Audio Asylum.

Getting close to a purchase for the summit x's and am still leaning toward the ar 150's....question..how would they compare to the Macintosh MC2301 monoblocks......thanks in advance......