Buy an Audio Research SP10 MkII or an SP11 MkII ?

My still-good friend and I were in the high-end-audio business in the early- to mid-'80s, and he knew LOTS more than I about these things. Here's what he said:

"If he’s looking for a preamp with a vacuum-tube signature, then the SP-10 is his best bet. That said, the actual sound quality’s very much tube-dependent and as I recall, they require replacement at fairly short intervals. (As an aside, the low-level tubes came from ARC with rubber damping rings installed, an idea that the SP-10’s designer, Jack whatever-his-name-is, “borrowed” from me after a long discussion we had about various methods to address the microphonic qualities of tubes when he called TJA late one afternoon to buy some capacitors because ARC’s usual supplier had run out…)."

Based on all comments so far, the SP-10 is definitely your best choice. Also, you may be in serious pursuit of NOS or premium current-production tubes if you buy one. Looking here http://www.arcdb.ws/SP10/SP10.html , the -10's fono section has SEVENTY-TWO dB of gain, plenty enough for that Rosewood Signature.
.

I agree on the Jadis JP80MC. Without a doubt the finest tube preamp I have ever heard but a whole lot more money than the SP10. I would love to own one but it is more than I can afford.

Wendell

The SP11 was too cool, clinical if you will, for me. I've been using my SP10II for over 20 years and nothing else has tempted me. Tubes are an issue, you need quiet and rugged tubes.

I have owned both and have kept my SP10. it will never leave me as I have not found anything that comes close for my personal taste. When I first received my SP11 many years ago, I fell in love with it. But after a while, there was something about it. I would like to say it was solid state like but I want to avoid that argument. To me, it didnt seem as "real". I ended up selling it and guess what. I didnt even miss it. When I first received my SP10, it had Sovtek tubes in it. I then put in Siemens E188CC and it blew me away. I have owned many tube pieces, some are less sensitive to tube choice. But I always call the SP10 a tube microscope. Changes in tubes make a big difference. If you find the right combination for your tastes, this unit will shine. I love my SP10 and unless financial circumstances dictate otherwise, it will never leave me. I managed to stockpile 2 complete sets of siemens tubes for future use. I have owned an incredible amount of systems and have finally identified pieces that I wont sell unless I have too. With these units, I have pretty much stopped chasing the audio upgrade because I have found units that allow me to focus more on listening than chasing audio perfection. This doesnt mean I have others I dont want to sell :)) I guess you will find many different opinions and there are some reportly good offerings out there from Manley, BAT and others. But I figure I wont do much better spending $2500 on an SP10 compared to $7000 on a Manley. If its worth it to you and you have the bucks, go for it. I wouldnt object to owning a Manley Steelhead. If nothing else but for the support and postings I see from EveAnna backing their products. That is also important to me. But its not in my budget range and these days, i would rather spend the money on picking up music or comfortable chair for listening or more tubes for my beloved SP10. Good luck in your search.

Another vote for the SP-10 if you are dead set on this or the SP-11. I owned the SP-10 for 8 years and loved it, even with its rolled-off frequency extremes, rather high noise floor, and yes, constant replacement of the phono-stage tubes. But oh man, the midrange bloom and dynamic contrasts to die for at the time. The ultra-low noise RAM 6DJ8 tubes worked beautifully in the 80s.

When ARC returned to all-tubed preamps in the early-mid 90s, the LS5, one listen to this with the companion solid-state PH2 and my SP-10 was for sale.

If you want what the SP-10 offers, I suggest you use the same $2500-3000 or so and listen to an LS5 II or III and keep your eyes out for the matching PH2 on the used market. This combination has ALL (yes, all) the strengths of the SP-10 but has refinements across the board. The SP-10 really is only good for phono playback as its line stage is mediocre at best. I realized how true this was when the LS5 destroyed the SP-10 for line level sources. So if CD playback is also a big part of your listening session, I would consider other options.

Concerning the SP-10's claimed gain of 72db, I would be skeptical of this claim relative to newer products. What good is the gain if there is so much more noise in the background. The LS5 II has 30db and the PH2 48db for a total of 78db and this combination had far more gain and S/N than the SP-10 when I made the change. The SP-10 just barely worked with cartridges at 1mv so I stayed with such models: Sumiko Virtuoso and Shinon Red in the 80s and early 90s. The Benz Glider of today would be a comparable output cartridge.

When I upgraded to the Koetsu Rosewood Signature 2 years ago, the LS5/PH2 combination was not enough to handle this so I changed to the BAT VK-P10 and then Aesthetix Io phono stages which have upwards of 70db each! But I ran each of these at 54 db - the extra 6db over the PH2 was what I needed. There is no way the 0.6 mv Koetsu will work well with the SP-10 unless you have found miracle tubes and the unit has gone through a major upgrade of parts.

John