Anyone famaliar with the manufacturer,and in particular this pre amp.The credentials and testimonials seem impressive.The advertised 10 day audition is appealing.
Wow! The first person to say that they've returned the AH preamp. Thanks for your candor. Hopefully the AR preamp will be more to your liking, Rgd. Keep us posted on your impressions after your evaluations.
No evaluation yet, he's been waiting a long time for the Ref 3, and is quite irritated.
As usual, this whole preamp scenario boils down to break-in procedure, your electricity supply, your system, your tube selection (if applicable) your ears and preferences.
I'd like to arrange a comparison, or if someone else here can compare or borrow a Ref 3, that's fine too, I'm curious to hear the results.
Rdg Thank you for your input. May I ask what your source, amp and speakers are and whether your room is accoustically treated? I am very curious to see what the AH does well with and what perhaps is better served by a different pre. Joe
Source is a Sony xa9000es for SACD and a transport into an Audio Note DAC 2.1x for redbook. Amp is a Bryston 14B-SST. Speakers are Talon Audio Ravens. Treatments are minimal with Eighth Nerve response treatments.
The AH was burned in 24/7 over 3 weeks with a tuner signal running through it (when I wasn't listening to it) and I have three 20A dedicated lines one of which is allocated to the preamp.
The following preamps were recently in my system; Lamm LL2 deluxe, Hovland HP-100, Bryston BP-26 and Lamm L2 ref. The AH is a very nice preamp and certainly a huge value as it ran very well agaisnt the Hovland and "baby" Lamm. As for the Lamm L2 ref it just brought more to the party - better dynamics, deeper soundstage and more detail/realism than any other preamp thats been in my rack.
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