Seeing such negative reviews of this amp here, I felt I had to respond. It may just be a matter of speaker matching. I have a pair of Magnepan 3.5R's, and I was looking for an amp to go with them. I audition several amps, including the Classe' CA-150 and the OCM 500, both more powerful, expensive amps, and both sounded "wrong" with the Magnepans. For example, the Classe' sound "funny" in the upper mids/lower treble, while I thought the OCM sounded a bit thin, considering it should be putting out 500 watts into 4ohms. I also listened to an Acurus A250, but that was too bright. When I put the D130 into the system, it seemed everything just sounded "right" with my Magnepans, especially the mids on up. I can't comment too much about the bass, only to say that it was about as good as a Rotel RB990 amp, an amp which I seen to have pretty decent bass, and with Magnepans, you're not going to get massive bass anyways. I have also listened to this amp w/ the ML reQuest, and I thought that combo sounded much better than the MLs w/ the acclaimed VT100, because the bass was tighter and more controlled (w/ the VT100s, the bass was very one-notey). I'm not a big soundstaging/imaging freak, and it seems that speaker design, placement and the room make a much bigger contribution in my experience than electronics.

I was looking for an amp to marry into my existing setup: 1) Golden Tube SEP-1 Pre-amp; 2) AA CD Transport and DAC and 3) Linn Tukan Mini-Monitors. I use this system for causal purposes in my den.
My first preference for an amp was the McCormack 0.5 DNA. I went to my local dealer to give it a test drive. While I was there, I spotted the ARC D-130 in the consignment section. I was familar with ARC's excellent reputation with valve equipment, but heard little regarding their acumen with SS equipment. I decided to give the McCormack and the ARC D-130 a side-by-side test drive.

I found both of these amps to be gems in their own right. However, I found their sonic signatures to be markedly different. I would characterize the McCormack as being "sweet and fluid" and the ARC as having an "tremendous soundstage with mid-range neutrality". I do not think that these characteristics are necessarily mutually exclusive, but in the case of these two amps, each did certain things better than the other. Like other posts, I found that both amps took an extraordinarily long time to warm up!

My assessment in comparing these amps was that I did not find that one amp inherently "better" than the other. My decision to purchase the ARC was based on two factors: 1) the Golden-Tube Pre-Amp really warmed up the sound; and 2) I bought the used model for $850.

I gave it a rating of 4 Stars.

Compared with other offerings at this price point from Classe, Threshold, Krell, Aragon, etc the D130 clearly is the most musical. The bass is as tight, extended, and controlled as any one of the above. The D130 smokes the competition in the areas of fine detail, soundstaging, liquidity, timbral accuracy and overall midrange smoothness. Fantastic sound for only $2000.

I usually feel a slight "nut" vibration with the bigger solid-state amps, when loud lo-frequency passages are played. I tried out the D130 with my NHT's, playing Michael Jackson's title 'Bad.' There was little or no vibration or air movement through my shaft/nut complex. Very disappointing. . . .

Just a word of clarification on the shaft/nut reference. Basically this is a device that engineers that study air paths use. Take a simple wrapping paper tube and place a walnut over the opening. Walk around the room and if there is sufficient low frequency air movement the shaft/nut complex with vibrate in your grasp. I use it as a subjective test for low-end response.

ANOTHER GREAT AMP FROM ARC.
GOOD SOUND

GOOD PRICE!

JUST LET IN WARM UP BEFORE YOU TRY TO LISTEN.

Just the name of Audio Research worth 4 stars.

I have owned many ARC componets. The quality of construction & sound performance of the D-130 is consistant with all the products from ARC, excellent.
I have had my amp for about three weeks. My finding are consistent with other on this site. It must have its warm up time, but well worth the wait. I replaced an Adcom 5800 with the D-130. The 130 blows it away even though both are in the same price range. I plan to upgrade to the ARC 100.2 soon. I have heard great things about that amp as well.

System:

B&K Ref 20 Pre Amp

ARC D-130 on the top end

B&K Ref 4420 Momo Blocks on the bottom

Vandersteen Model IV's (bi-amped)

Meridian CD 506

Cary interconnects

XLO Series 5 Speaker Cable, Tri Wired

My first high end componet. I picked a real winner here.
This amp was a great place to start.

I would rate it higher but 5 stars is all we have.

I selected the Audio Research D130 after the amp I was originally going to listen to (VT60) was out on loan by the dealer, so he suggested I try this instead. The D130 complements the rest of the system beautifully (Theta Pearl/ProGeny, ARC LS8 and ProAc Response 2.5) This was what was needed to bring everything alive. Vocals are produced extremely accurately and there is a deep, wide soundstage that puts you right where the action is. When I eventually did try the VT60, it just didn't have the grunt I wanted for some of the more orchestrally challenging recordings that I play.
Judging by the variation in review ratings so far, I can only suggest that the D130 needs to be considered very carefully within a system context, so the above remarks are relevant to my system within my listening room. I've always felt that ARC products sound particularly good through ProAcs, so maybe I've just hit upon a great combination. Whatever, I am absolutely delighted with this amp - build quality is superb, it only generates about 75 Watts at idle, so I leave it switched on all the time in my cabinet with no heat problems, and I just keep smiling from ear to ear whenever I do any serious listening. Full marks for a great little amp!