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Large-scale symphonic fare adds complexity. Here the ARC behaved textbook and deposited me in the best seat of the house. It was impressive how always the entire recorded venue lit up even when only specific sections or soloists played. Recorded acoustic, decays and the finest of noises were clear and precise to map the original location. Be it Liszt’s Preludes [Robert Solti with the London Philharmonic] or Stravinsky’s Firebird [Pierre Boulez and the Chicago Symphony], the ARC convinced with a large open stage which seemed to transcend the barriers of my room whilst nailing the exact location of each tone and sound source. I’m not exaggerating when I say that in matters of imaging this amplifier was the best I’ve ever had in my crib.


The joint theme of extreme clarity and exact definition continued in other areas. Somehow each tone seemed to manifest more concretely and defined than I’m used to. Let’s track together how this manifested across the audible spectrum. In the bass the DSi200 belonged to the leaner/factual rather than voluptuous/fulsome faction. In the final analysis that’s always a function of the speaker too but I’d wager an educated guess that this machine isn’t ideal for compact speakers which would benefit from some deliberate bass augmentation. Where bass quantity remained matter of taste and tied to ancillaries, without equivocation bass quality was exceptionally controlled and precise.

Each oscillation of the double-bass string was tacit. This grew particularly apparent with Le Bang Bang’s eponymous album. I was awed by how much expressivity Sven Faller coaxed from his instrument. Whilst I felt left wanting for a bit of opulence with classical music, the tone colors of the kettle drums on Stravinsky’s Le Sacre du Printemps [Chicago Symphony under Pierre Boulez] were wonderfully resolved.

At this juncture I wanted to know and reached for the tough tobacco with an old Telarc of Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture [Erich Kunzel and the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra ] – the one with the real cannons. What the ARC pulled off here I can barely describe. I’m not a weapons nut but I'm certain that aficionados of vintage cannons (there are clubs for that) could have identified model, year and ammunition. In short, for quick and extremely intelligible bass facts this might be the ultimate amp.

This theme continued on into the mids. Voices were brilliantly resolved, the finest nuances of modulation and articulation revealed and even prominent pipes remained neutral. As mentioned earlier, Eva Cassidy manifested with reach-out-and-touch clarity on stage but the ARC couldn’t develop the intensity my valve-fitted Jadis Orchestra injects into her voice. Granted, the Jadis seems to glom onto the voice whilst shifting other aspects into the background or beneath the table altogether whereas the American retrieved them into the light together with the vocals. This comparison quickly settled that the Jadis couldn’t match the resolving power of the Audio Research. This turned piano music into a true adventure. Catering to a slightly melancholy mood I cued up Chopin’s Nocturnes with Maurizio Pollini. I normally don’t manage to sit through his entire twofer CD but the DSi200 presented  so much detail and nuance of Pollini’s game that I remained captivated, even more so because this amp sounds very ‘fast’ and thus lively.