eee3

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
More than 1 year

Visitors rate this review
5.00 of 5, 1.00 votes

Price Paid:  $0.00

Summary:
Let me start out by saying this is avery good! amp. Unfortunately, there are not a lot of reviews on it. Why that is I don't know. What I can say is that it is a very neutral sounding sounding amp with very good detail and resolution particularly in the low end.
When I first hooked it up it made me raise my head and just look and say to myself, man that is a very clean articulate sound. I just sat and listend for hours.
I'm mating it with a ARC LS-25 MK II preamp and ARC CD-3 MK II cd player along with Triangle naia speakers. Cables are audio metallurgy ga-o interconnects and gold reference speaker cables. Powercords are electriglide epiphany x's. This combination really makes the 150.2 sing.
If you are looking for a good, reletively inexpensive amp($2995 retail) around $1500 used, don't hesitate to get one.

Strengths:
Great detail and resolution. Very neutral. Technology from the 150M.

Weaknesses:
None that I can find.

Similar Products Used:
ARC D-200, D-130

flex2

Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Value Rating
 4 of 5

Used product for
More than 1 year

Visitors rate this review
3.00 of 5, 2.00 votes

Price Paid:  $1750.00 from Audiogon

Summary:
Finally, efter months of changing cables etc etc I have made this power amp sing as expected. Because of the absolute neutrality it's very sensitive to the attached equipment. During my 25 year long audio life I have had a lot of different equipment and have ended up using mostly Audio Research. They really make great products. I use 150.2 together with LS12 for my TV system, and they do a great job. For my other system I use LS22, Ref One, VT-100 and VT-150SE.
150.2 are not able to create the perfect soundstage and full sound of my tube gear. But most transistor equipment can't do that eigther.
150.2 sounds a little bit lean, but that can be corrected with proper selection of cables. I ended up with Nordost Quattro fil between pre- & poweramp and Magnan Signature for loudspeaker cables. It's very sensitive to the quality of the power supply, and after feeding it from Exactpower EP-15A I could listen to it any other way. This LS12 & 150.2 combination have approx. 65% of the sound I get from my Ref One & VT-150SE combination. It sounds very good, but lacks the last word in creating that "life like" sound my better equipment can do.
My LS12 & 150.2 combination however sounds much better than Pathos TT, Jeff Rowland Concentra, Mcintosh MA-6900, Accuphase E-405 and ARC VSi55 that I have tried for my TV system.
My 150.2 drives a pair of hard to drive Infinity Renaissance 90 with ease, so it's a quite strong amplifier. Even a low impedances.

Strengths:
Clarity. Overall neutrality. No significant coloration of it's own. Low power consumption. Can have it on all the time to perform at 100% all the time.

Weaknesses:
Can't create the "Real Thing" the way my tube gear can, but do a excellent job compared to other transistor amps at the same price range.
Hard to match with surrounding equipment.

hibuckhobby

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
More than 1 year

Visitors rate this review
4.00 of 5, 1.00 votes

Price Paid:  $0.00

Summary:
Having been the owner of several ARC tube amps and currently having a VS110, I expected the 150.2 to have the ARC "house sound" but to fall far behind current edition tubes. I was both right and wrong. It does have the ARC tonality...which for tubes is very neutral. On the other hand, it is slightly leaner than the VS110.

With that said, it is the best sounding SS amp I've owned in over 30 years as an audiophile. I'm currently using two different tube preamps...an SAS10a and ARC SP-16. It clearly reveals the difference between the two. A tube preamp with this amp also ameliorates and leaness in the midrange or lower treble. If this amp sounds too lean or "flat" in your system, you have a system that started out on the lean side of the spectrum.

I'm using it right now to good effect with Sonus Faber Grand Piano home edition speakers. Fast, clean, detailed and yet can listen for hours without fatigue.

Strengths:
speed, clarity and neutral tonality. Great leading edge transients, soundstage and image specificity.

Weaknesses:
Slightly lean presentation if you are a tube lover.

Similar Products Used:
First Class 'T' amp

mjptexas

Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
3 Months to 1 year

Visitors rate this review
4.86 of 5, 7.00 votes

Price Paid:  $0.00 from Audio Systems

Summary:
I was driving Linn Espek speakers with a bi-amp setup consisting of an ARC CA50 and an ARC VT60. Really liked the sound of the system, but the old amps didn't have the punch I liked (amplification used to be a Threshold SA300). Tried the 150.2 in my system with an old ARC LS3 preamp I had in the closet. The 150.2 definately has that ARC product sound. Sonically (for these old ears anyway) the 150.2 is very similar to the ARC tube products it replaced. Big difference was the additional punch the 150.2 brings to the game. 50 watts of ARC tube power (my old setup) is nice, but is not the same as the 300 watts into 4 ohms the 150.2 delivers. Extra headroom really improved the overall response of my system. My major worry prior to buying the 150.2 is listening fatigue. Occasionally I'll sit down and listen for 3-4 hours at a time. Main reason I had switched to ARC tube products was to avoid the listener fatigue that I had previously experienced with solid state amplification. After numerous listening sessions I have not experienced any listening fatigue problems. Listening experience is as pleasant and enjoyable as using the ARC tube gear. I still had the old Threshold SA300 in the closet so I drug it out for a little a/b comparison. The 150.2 doesn't project the HUGE soundstage the Threshold does, but it doesn't have the high end grit either that used to bug me during long listening sessions. And through the Linns the 150.2 would play just as loud as the Threshold if that is your thing.

Strengths:
Traditional ARC sound Solid bass Great price

Weaknesses:
maybe a little 'polite' on the high end (could be my hearing loss too)