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Soliciting Member Perspectives: Levinson vs Bryston vs Audio Research

Wanting to start a discussion for which there are obviously ZERO absolute answers.  I want to hear various member perspectives on these three marquis brands of audio equipment: pro's vs con's, likes vs dislike & your emotional/visceral experiences.

Why?  #1, I think it would be fun & edifying.  #2, I am contemplating modifying the direction of my primary 2-channel system in my 'Man Cave' & your thoughts & opinions will be useful.

Please try to avoid pretentiousness, condescension & remember, these are your opinions & not necessarily facts.

Thanks in advance & I hope this proves to be as fun as I think it can be.
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jburidan
803 posts
 
Levinson isn’t Levinson, ARC isn’t ARC. So, I don’t follow either brand.

These companies do lots of marketing, and sell lots of equipment. ARC does lots of planned obsolescence, with which the audio writers collude by stating that the latest flavor is markedly better than its predecessor. This is straight out of Marketing 101.

Not to imply that all incremental improvements are just marketing. For instance, Bobby Palkovich put decades of research into perfecting his Merlins, but he was following an aesthetic vision.
lhasaguy's avatar
lhasaguy
339 posts
 
I owned and Audio Research Amp and pre amp from about 2005-2008.

I liked and enjoyed them, but 300 wpc into 4 ohms was not sufficient for my Maggies.

With more efficient speakers, I suspect I would have not changed them.  Ultimately I went for a McIntosh pair of mono blocks and a tube pre amp.

I have nothing but good opinions of the Audio Research gear I owned and would recommend listening  to them as a possible choice.  Caveat being that was 10 years ago.

Enjoy your journey!
stevecham
3,340 posts
 
I owned a Bryston 4BST stereo amp and then 7BST monoblocks for several years powering Thiel CS7s. The 7BSTs were eventually bettered by a Krell 400cx stereo amp, if only for its ability to better drive the low impedance. But the Brystons were very musical. They were fed by a Bryston BP25 preamp via balanced cables. An audio friend of mine has a 100 WPC Audio Research stereo amp driving Vandersteen Quattros that sounds fantastic.
wengr's avatar
wengr
19 posts
 
I have not heard any of them in a home music reproduction system. I'll be buying Bryston however. 20 yr warranty and common use in professional studio settings is enough to sway me.
ericsch
753 posts
 
Clearthink, it's "their" not "they're".  
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