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Audio Research Ref 3 VS Mark Levinson 38s

Im thinking about upgrading my preamp. Right now i have the Mark Levinson 38s preamp. What will be the differences in sound between them. Would this be upgrade ? 
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minorl
1,015 posts
 

A friend of my purchased the 380s pre-amp and I at the time owned the REF 3.  I can tell you that both are excellent.  Quite open and detailed.  I don't know about the 38s but, I imagine that it would be close to the 380s with the 380s probably being better than the 38s.

However, I also compared the REF 3 (with new tubes) with a REF 5SE and I have to tell you they were very close.  It definitely was not a jaw dropping difference between the two, and my REF 6 is not far away from the REF 5SE.  I had all three in my house at the same time to compare.  That was fun.

The REF 3 with new tubes is very hard to beat and for the money, impossible to beat.

Don't get me wrong, the 380s was excellent and I would take either one. if the 380s is an upgrade to the 38s, then the REF 3 would definitely be better than the 38s.

enjoy

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tattooedtrackman OP
883 posts
 
minorl , that was good reading from you , yes the 380s was an upgrade from the 38s. I was considering at one time upgrading my 38s to the 380s but i thought it might be somewhat kinda close in comparison to spend the extra $$$$. That is why i was thinking of the ARC Ref 3. 
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jmcgrogan2
6,346 posts
 
I've owned both of those preamps, though not at the same time. I had the 38S for about a month, around 15 years ago. Then I spent about 3 years with the ARC Ref 3, and sold it about 8 years ago.

In my system, to my ears, there was no contest at all. I much preferred the ARC Ref 3, more resolution, more musical, more natural.

Again, that is just my opinion, and I have been known to prefer a tube preamp. Very few SS preamps have sounded natural to me, with Klyne the possible exception.

The 38S stood out to me as a very HiFi sounding unit. It checked many boxes, good bass, good highs, but it never sounded relaxed or natural to me. Could have been system synergy, or whatnot, I can't really recall what else was in my rig back 15 years ago, but I did turn around and resold it rather quickly, and the guy who bought it really liked it, so whatever. That's why they make so many flavors.

That's just my $0.02.
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