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RE: The SP20 is really nice (at 4X the cost)

I use measured specs [from ASR, Stereophile, etc] mainly as a starting point to weed out obviously defective products. I don't suffer from op-amp or feedbackphobia but I do look at the overall design to see where the designer's head is, but in the end its the sound that counts most to me.

All three ARC "tube" preamps that I once owned suffered from solid-state-itis. To be expected I guess from what were essentially JFET solid-state preamps with a tube buffer bolted on the output. Additionally these all used $2.00 IC chip volume controls. You have to move into the large five figure price range before ARC gives you a better volume control. I'd much prefer a good ALPS pot or better yet, discrete resistor volume control. Many preamp manufacturers do too, including all of the 'high-end' established brands I listed below. As they say, the volume control makes or breaks the preamp.

If these ARC "tube" preamps sounded like tubes to me, I wouldn't be so critical of them. But they didn't. To me a REAL tube preamp doesn't just bolt a couple tube buffers onto the output stage as ARC does. BAT doesn't do this. CJ doesn't do this. Aesthetix doesn't do this. Manley doesn't do this. VTL doesn't do this. VAC doesn't do this. Cary doesn't do this. Etc. Again, you have to move into the large five figure price range before ARC gives you a REAL tube preamp with hopefully a better volume control. And I would hope that these five figure ARC tube preamps sound like tubes.



Edits: 06/06/22
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