Opinions on Audio Research LS17 & LS26

Dpac996, I regret I didn't change out the power supply caps on the LS-15 though. I should have replaced those Nichicon caps with some Black Gates. Could have been even better!

Ackman00, see www.percyaudio.com
I purchased capacitors from this website. Michael is a pleasure to deal with. If you are going to purchase TRT caps, I recommend you also investigate the possibility of changing the power supply caps to BlackGates. But the TRT Dynamicaps along should bring a very nice improvement.
I think this upgrade is totally worth it. Improvements across the board, especially comparing to the REL caps ARC used in this pre.

Wow...I just purchased an ls26 - hooked up with a classe dr-25, NAD M5 (the new masters series product, which in itself, is an amazing piece), b&w 801s strung together with transparent ultra mm interconnects and speaker cable throughout, and rounded out with the amazing transparent power isolator 4 (with transparent power cables throughout). My first impression of the ls26 was nothing short of spectacular (right out of the box, i might add!). The breadth and depth of the soundstage is nothing short of...well, 'live'. It is truly a wonderous piece of gear. I should add that the addition of the PI-4 power isolator added a great deal to the configuration in terms of wholly eliminating all extraneous 'noise'...I was somewhat doubtful of the impact which a line conditioner could have upon the sound, but the Transparent product is nothing short of stunning.

Pixette246, what was your preamp before the LS-26?

Congratulations! I share your opinion of the LS-26... wait until it gets about 250 hours on it!!!

The best recommendation that I can offer in order to understand the difference between a LS25MKII and a LS26: demo both pieces of gear in your own environment. Just as soon as I offer one attribute of one piece of equipment over the other, someone will post here that they never experienced that with this particular piece of equipment. And for good reason. All systems depend on synergy. And, in my particular system and room, the LS26 was far superior and worth the additional dollar investment. You may have a totally different experience or your expectations my not be the same as mine.

If you do not have the opportunity to demo, purchase used and sell if you are not pleased with the outcome.