ARC Ref 1, 2, 3 Preamps

You may want to insert the LS26 between the Ref2 and Ref3, why?, because the LS26 beats the Ref2, (ask any ARC Dealer, it is closer in performance to the Ref 3 than the Ref 2 is)this also eliminates the Ref1.
Many asume the LS26 is a continuation of the LS25, it is entierly different. No 25 can be upgraded to a 26.
You could save half of that 10K Ref3 price and be very satisfied with the LS26, as I am with mine.
Just my opinion,

Good idea. I'm interested in the "best" of the recent (10 years?) ARC preamps. I've heard some say the actually prefer the early Ref pres that used the 6922 instead of the 6H30s - so I'm looking to info on what the deifference and preferences of those that have exposure to these, ideally all 3, now 4.

Well in my system I found the REF 1 to be more musical than the 2,this may be because the 1 employed tubes in the power base as opposed to solid state in the REF 2.I'm not entirely sure this is the reason ,so perhaps someone else can shine a light.The REF 3 is an entirely different animal and far superior to the earlier models.I have no experience with the LS 26.