Has anyone Upgraded their ARC preamp

I had the LS25 MkI and it was good, but had a veil on it compared to the LS26 I owned for the past couple years. I loved the LS26; ARC's philosophy goal is to capture the best of solid state; the detail, speed, dynamics and low noise floor with the positives of tubes; more three dimensional sound stage, more air and bloom around the notes. If you want a tubey sound, there are other manufacturers to give you that. I jumped the Ref 3 and went to Ref 5 and it is light years above the LS26, but for the price it should be! With many audionuts upgrading I think I'd jump to the Ref 3 from the LS25 MkI; your urge to upgrade will be less!

Hifimaniac...nice setup and agree with you 100% on your description of the ARC sound. That's exactly right. I see you have the PH7 right now. With your Continuum set-up, it's begging for the Ref Phono 2 :-) One quick question, with the Ref 5 mated to the SS Nemo monos, you still get as much 3D dimensionality in the soundstage and that sense of bloom and air around instruments as compared to the Ref 5 into a tubed power amp (Ref 110/210s for example)? I run my Ref 3 into a Ref 110 and I am thinking about subbing out the Ref 110s for the DS450 from ARC but I am afraid to lose some of that tube magic that gives you an immersive quality to the musical presentation. Thanks

"It has been my experience Audio Research hybrid preamps require 3 days warm up to sound their best"

Why would anyone buy a tube pre that takes 3 days warmup to sound "good".Thats the dumbest thing if seen on this site.Ill pass!!!

Toetap...imho, i don't think the Ref 3 requires 3 days of warm up :-). I would say after 30 mins, you are in happier than a pig in doodoo. Initial break-in is a different story and that has to do with the caps used. Initial break-in count on 200-400 hrs. After 200 hrs it starts getting there and after 400 hrs you are pretty much done.

Cmalak,I know what your saying and I really like the Ref3.My point was how totally stupid and clueless the poster was,IMO if your going to post for all to view, make some sense.I guess I just dont have the ability to overlook idiots anymore.