Replacing SP11 mK2

I had an SP-11 as well. I listened to the newer ARC offerings, and ended up with a BAT VK50SE. IMHO, considerably better than the new ARC stuff, and affordable if you purchase used.

Good luck in your search

Paul

When I replaced my SP-11 MkII about 10 years ago, I was considering an LS-2/Vendetta combination, which I recall had significantly better ultimate resolution than the SP-11. One listen to a Jadis JPL after hearing the LS-2, though, hooked me on the richer sound of Jadis. Assuming you want to stay with ARC, my favorite after the SP-11 was the LS-5, which is a bit tubier sounding than the SP-11 but still pretty neutral. If you want a phono stage with that, you can use a PH-3, I guess, maybe the special edition (unfortunately, the only full-feature pre from ARC after the SP-11 was the SP-15, which had even less tubes and, IMO, didn't sound as good). The BAT suggestion is a good one as well, if you like the ARC sound, as it is very high-resolution but with good tube dimensionality. Finally, if you stray from ARC, want to stay single-ended instead of balanced and don't want to go as far to the tube side of neutral as Jadis, you might want to give a listen to the Herron gear, which I have found to be among the best I've heard at balancing neutrality with the strengths of tubes in dimensionality and naturalness of timbres. Good luck!

I had the ARC SP9 and enjoyed it immensely for 10 years. But ultimately I had to face the same dilemma that you are facing right now. I listened to lots of different preamps before i finally settled on CAT Ultimate Preamp. It's an absolute masterpiece of work. Trust me, I listened to a lot of preamps. Good luck

I had a audio research sp 11 also for years,went to Thor Audio T1000 linestage. A whole new world of music! You will hear music you din't know you had.