Thank you all for the responses…very helpful indeed! When the time is right some demos at home are certainly required to reach a verdict. The 250DR will probably fit the bill very nicely…more control, detail, smoother, refinement, bass texture, realism sound like desirable attributes.
@NigelB
Thanks for your comments and encouragement. Although the Arc2s seem fairly easy to drive, I also suspect that they will respond well to extra control. Cost aside, the idea of exploring a 300DR as an alternative option to the 250DR is an interesting one.
@Antz
282/HiCapDR/300DR…could this be an end-game amplifier without triggering the need for a Supercap on the 282 or move to 252?
Ah…I forgot about swapping a HiCap for a SuperCapDR on the 282. I did this and I just might put that ahead of a 300DR in place of a 250DR. Also if you do go to a SuperCapDR you are ready for a 252….now that is a serious pre, not that the 282 isn’t. I have always gone for the best pre I could afford before upgrading the power amp, but in your system I would definitely say the 200 is the weak link, so go 250DR certainly, possibly 300DR if that is your end-game power amp. If I had my time again, I would have leap-frogged one or two upgrades, cheaper in the long run, if you know where you are headed.
One comment that I should make related to auditioning the 250DR. Well, my experience at least, which others might relate to. I was looking for new speakers and took my 250.2 along to the dealer; he had the 250DR. To be fair, I was listening to speakers but he did swap in the 250DR a few times. I was underwhelmed. The lack of bass weight compared to the 250.2 was noticeable. The 250.2 was ‘in your face’ and the 250DR seemed polite. Move forward a few months and I bought a 250DR as funds were there. I was convinced that I had missed something. To be fair, the dealer had told me that the 250DR was balanced, faster, detailed and that its merits took longer to recognise than an hour in his demo room. He was right, my one hour demo was not. For me, the 250DR walks all over the 250.2. He is not getting it back!
My experiences going from 250-2 to 250DR (via upgrade) and then to 300DR (new) is that with each step I’m not so much getting more bass, as much as I am getting better bass. Tighter, more well defined, more refined, more musical and closer to what I experience live. It’s similar to getting my pair of REL subs dialed in. It’s not the lower bass or more bass, it’s better bass with a resulting improved grip on the music across the board.
I totally agree. Low frequencies are more difficult to control and an amplifier needs plenty of controlled power to give them the same definition as you get with midrange and top.
One thing that I should have mentioned, that might be useful for some people, is the performance at low volumes. In the past, I have felt that the tone balance of the amplifier has been a little ‘off’ at low volume. Typically, the bass seems a bit recessed and the whole sound is a bit light. Now I know that there are many reasons why that should happen, including the human ear. What I can say is that the 250DR does perform better at low volumes than the 200. You feel that the bass is really there and it is a far more balanced sound.
Live? I’ve never understood that statement. You mean listening to a 10000w 30 speaker PA system 200m away in a lousy acoustical environment with 20 000 persons screaming?
Still PA speakers and amps focusing not that much on HIFI. A live concert is about emotions but I challenge to say the audio quality never will be as good as home given all compromises in delivering sound to persons All around in a large hall. If so your home system really sucks
No I mean sitting in Powell Hall listening to Stéphane Denève conducting the SLSO in a performance of Mahler’s 2nd, or sitting two tables away from the Chick Corea Trio in an small club, or listening to Ralph Towner play acoustic guitar in Graham Chapel on the Washington University campus (these are all events I attended in the last year).
Whatever it is you are referring to is nothing I attend in person nor listen to on my system.
