Audio Research Preamp Experts?

Mapman; In my opinion based on my direct comparisons, some equipment is much more forgiving than others. However, remember, that there really are some terrible recordings out there. A lot of recording engineers really don't care about sound stage, etc. They use compression, multiple tracks, terrible mikes, bad mike placement, bad cables, etc. Its funny. my friend brought some of her favorite music over and we played it through the SP-11 and it sounded good. We later played it through the REF 3 (that was the only change), and it was really bad. But the well recorded music that we owned sounded great on both. I have changed equipment and have heard other equipment being revealed as not so good also. A well designed and constructed piece of equipment will not color or distort. It is only if one already knows what the music sounds like or does an A/B comparison with a particular piece of equipment, that you can really tell.

I have to admit, that many of my older cd's really suck as far as recording quality goes. Same for some of my albums.

enjoy

Well, I spent alot of time reading up on all the previous ARC pres. I;ve concluded I will focus on the LS series, though the SP-11 sounds like it would be a great unit, but too much gear and too many tubes given I don't have any need for phono. So I am at the point where I need to ask is there any kind of consensus (that will be the day) that the LS26 is superior to any previous generation of ARC linestages? I think it hits the sweet spot at its used price, which I imagine will drop a bit when the LS27 comes out. Most say it is better than the Ref2s - but I have no idea if that is true.

Well, I heard said that the LS26 is one step below the REF3 if that helps. Take a listen for a week or so at your house to tell for sure.

enjoy

Actually find the physical scale of the Ref 2 and 3s to be to large, I prefer the format of the smaller unit. The LS26 since to be well regarded, the other competitor in my mind is the LS25 MKI as a viable option. Opinion on the 6H30 linestages seemed a bit mixed compared with the 25MKI using 6922 - some prefering it as more musical and allowing for some tube rolling. But I have narrowed it down to LS25MKI and LS26. Any comments on those familiar with both would be appreciated. I have an Atma-sphere MP3 that works incredibly well with my Atma M60 amps, but I also have a Music Reference RM9 Special Edition that is single-ended, so I am looking for a pre that can work both singled-ended with the RM9SE and balanced with the M60s.

I had the SP-14 for many years and really enjoyed it thoroughly. At the time, I was mostly a vinyl guy ... guess I still am. On a good night, with the lights out, the entire back wall would just disappear and the sound stage seemed to have limitless depth and wall to wall width. At the time, I was using Acoustat Fours (modified), with Atma-Sphere 60 watt mono blocks. My Well Tempered table (modified) and Clavis cartridge really was a great match as well. Today, SP-14s are selling really cheap.