Audio Research Ref 3 VS Mark Levinson 38s

quick point. the 326s is light years beyond the 38s in sound quality. imo. i had both

Thank you all for your sound thoughts and advice. For those of you that said let your ears decide and listen to both would be impossible . I am lucky enough to buy one of these preamps let alone 2 and listen to them both to compare. That is out of the question. Now the question is ARC REF 3 or ML 326s . Would the ML 326s be worth the extra 2 grand or so ? 

Nobody is saying buy them both... can't you audition them?

The 326S is an excellent preamp; I enjoyed having it in my system.  Don't think you can go wrong with it - it is really tough to beat for the price. 

Would the ML 326s be worth the extra 2 grand or so ?

Only you can make that decision.
I am sure that you will be happy with either one though.

I would think that if you are paying an extra 2 grand, the price is either really good on the ARC Ref 3, or really bad on the 326S.
I see them selling for about the same price, unless the 326S has the optional phono stage, and even then it's only about $600-$1,000 more.

Now that is judging by sold prices on HiFiShark, not asking prices in current ads.
So if you are seeing a 2 grand difference, either the asking price for the 326S is too high, or the asking price for the Ref 3 is too low.