Audio Research Ref 10 vs 40th Anniversary preamp

I've always liked the Audio Research house sound, and looking into the 10 pre - reading this thread has been really illuminating. Thanks to everyone for your impressions.

I remember listening to an Audio Research amp and pre for the first time, literally a day after they arrived at my local dealer, who had just started carrying the line.

I was less than impressed. The treble would occasionally leap up and bite, and the overall effect was wooly in the lower midband and bass. I left, surprised that they would charge that much for the pair, as frankly my own less pricey tube gear sounded far better.

Fast forward six months later, and I returned to the same dealer - and those ARC boxes were playing in the same room. They sounded completely different - absolutely beautiful, with an extended and sweet treble, and a new clarity to the mids and bass. I couldn't stop listening for at least 45 minutes - they were hooked up to Wilson Sabrinas and sounded perfect, without deviation, the entire time.

I asked a staff member what happened, and he smiled nonchalantly. "Oh, they just finally broke in - all the ARC stuff does that, to varying degrees." He told me to prepare for a good 500 hours of break-in time, and they will reward your patience. That is so true for this particular line - it is a profound night and day difference.

Any other preamps compete well with ref 10 ?

bump

Well guys, I am back again, ... 1 year and a few months later, ... with some comments about the ARC Ref 6SE and the significance of break-in.  So, I finally swapped out my Ref 6 for the SE upgrade in the Fall of 2020.  I am happy to report that I am *very* pleasantly surprised and am *very*pleased. 

Right out of the box, ... the Ref 6SE sounded off.  Hard to describe. 

However, after 100 hours, I could start to hear real improvements in SQ.  The Ref 6SE sounded faster, better focus, better sound-stage, better imaging.  Bass was tighter too.  I recall listening to some jazz records and immediately noticed how tight the bass instrument sounded. Drum thwacks and cymbals ... really tight and clear. 

And all of these SQ improvements continued as I racked up more hours on the unit.  I have about 500 hours on my Ref 6SE now and it is pretty well broken in.  

As to bwright's comments and observations above, ... he is spot on.  Brand new ARC gears needs to break-in before one can really appreciate its quality and attributes.  In many ways, buying pre-owned ARC gear has an advantage:  the pre-owned unit should be broken and any kinks worked out.

BIF        

It only shows ARC was selling a flawed and veiled Ref 6 before the SE upgrade...

And charging you 10k for that « flawed » non SE pre...