Has anybody heard the new Audio Research LS 27?

Thanks for posting the review. He's right about the LS27...but I never liked the LS26. Go hear what's great about the new line of ARC models, any of you detractors may just change your minds....

What's glaringly missing from that review is a comparison with the Ref 5, which the reviewer owns. Granted the two products are not meant to compete, but I think it's a comparison most readers would want to know about.

Good point, but he does mention comparisons several times, so it's hardly glaring. Besides, if you can't pop for a REF5, then the LS27 is as close as you'll get, unless someone would "give" you a REF3. ah, in my dreams...

In Audio Research's defense, any quality audio manufacturer has the right to improve their products as state of the art parts and technology improves. It is in their best interest to do so. You try a new design and you learn from it. It either works or it fails, in which case you move on and try something else. High end manufacturers that do not improve their products over time won't last long as it's extremely competitive.

It is certainly the case that if they don't come out with new products they won't get reviewed and they might even fall of recommended component lists because they haven't been reviewed in so long. This is especially a problem when a ten or twenty year old design is every bit as good as anything made today. There may be some improvement in passive parts over time, maybe, perhaps, but I suspect the basic designs for amps and preamps have been part of the electrical engineer's "recipe" book for quite a while now.