For all those interested, I prepared a small info page.
ARG is a large engineering company from
Lviv, Ukraine. They do all kinds of things, including running a
dedicated
laboratory for development of high end amplification.
ARG has been developing amplifiers for over 10 years,
with personnel experienced for over 30 years in the business.
Ewgenniy Kreminsky, the guru himself - after a hard day of
soldering, testing and prototyping. We enjoy a sip of Cabernet in my
living room. March 2007.
The principles of their works are:
creation of own, genuine designs
using endless listening sessions as a
final judge of the design
working with tubes, silicone is allowed
for some rectifier bridges only
purity of sound always has priority over
measurements and calculations
long term reliability lies at the base
of all designs
simple, inexpensive elements are used
where it does not matter
most exotic parts and elements are used
where it matters
customer feedback is very important
Arg amplifiers follow a certain
philosophy
of design. Lets list a few points:
triode operation is best
feedback is bad, so zero feedback is used
everywhere
over sizing of components, especially
transformers is good
less stages is better than too many stages
single ended is ultimate topology
never copy Western designs, especially
copies of genuine Russian designs
design for high end, full spectrum speakers
having endless fun listening to the music
is the final goal of what we are doing
the last and best amplifier is never good
enough
I myself as a user of their gear,
followed
their developments for many years. I had every amplifier for long time
in my system. I know all schematics by heart, and I know all about
these
wonderful amps. My opinions contributed to the development of current
commercial
line of products.
The ARG amplifiers are available only
factory direct. Any variant and option can be ordered as a custom
version,
without much additional cost.
Custom features include:
for amplifiers: input impedance, input
pot, number of inputs, output taps for any speaker, multiple output
taps,
bias meters, indicators, "magic" green eye indicator, and the decor of
course.
for pre amps: number of inputs, number
of outputs, filtering of outputs for active bi-amping, rectification
method,
coupling caps, etc.
The product line:
OTL stereo, 5
WPC
1500 US$
OTL mono, 5
WPC 2500 US$ a pair PIC2
PIC3 PIC4
PIC5
SET stereo, 15 WPC
1900 US$
PSET mono (parallel
single ended) 2900 US$ a pair PIC2
PIC3
100 WPC bridged triode
mono
2900 US$ a pair
25 WPC push-pull
entry level stereo 900 US$ a pair
preamp
1
1500 US$
a
preamp with XO 1900
US$
Pre-pre phono for MM/MC
1500 US$
All designs have something in common -
they use 6H6P small signal tube in all applications. This is MAGICAL
tube.
Better than any other I heard, including famous BAT 6H30P, which by the
way is an impulse version of the 6H6P. I tested this tube against every
9 pin I could find, and the difference is always there. I cant stress
strongly
enough, that this tube is the KING of all small tubes period.
Power tubes are always the mighty super
triodes from Russian military surplus - the three nippled
6C33C-B.
This is the most powerful sounding power tube available, not counting
it's
own super variants and NOS exotica.
All power supplies are powerful,
unregulated,
CLC choke types. Choke P-S sounds soo
much
better than regulated types - the current delivery is instant and pure.
No sonic signature of feedback in the regulation stage. Most of the
construction
is wired point-to-poit. All labor is made in the house by the chief
engineer.
Every transformer is custom designed and hand wound. Transformer core iron
is being pre-selected for its sonic qualities.
In my experience of many years in serious
high end, the double SET mono OTL is the bets amplifier. It just has
to be heard to be believed. The OTLs are really awesome in the bass but
for very limited
number of speakers of high sensitivity and high impedance. On my 8 Ohm
/ 100 dB speakers, they sound like a kilowatt of a krell in the lowest
octaves.
ARG NON-OTL amplifiers, with correct
output taps,
can drive any reasonable speaker to satisfying levels. The sound is
very
powerful, spacious and dynamic. It is completely free of the speaker
location
- hanging freely in unbelievable 3-d space. Bass response rolls of at
around
13 Hz. After some time with those amps, one can not return to listening
to any transistor amp - I mean ANY, including the brand name kilobuck
models.
In tube domain, you have to pay around 10k US$ to get close to the
sound quality of ARG. (that statement was written in the pre-Angel era).
SHIPPING: usually the waiting time is
around 8 weeks, depending on back-orders and custom options. Delivery
via EMS
courier with 14 days return policy. Warranty is 5 years for labor and
parts
excluding tubes. Matched, tested and burned-in tube sets are
available
at no profit.
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