Owned a LS7 when it first came out and honestly I didn’t care for it. ARC didn’t make the LS7 long and remembered the LS8 followed very soon and that one didn’t last long either. Went through a few preamps later and settle for sometime on a ModWright SWL 9.0 SE. The MW is a great little preamp with remote and can be had used fairly cheap. Later I upgraded in the MW line and took home an ARC LS 25 MKII which is a nice preamp but I preferred the little MW still over the more expensive ARC. Ended up with a ModWright LS36.5 which is a great preamp. If you can find a MW SWL 9.0 SE you should consider. I know you want to stay with ARC but I’d look elsewhere first unless you’re looking at the LS28 or older Reference units which are still pricey and very good.
