Has anybody heard the new Audio Research LS 27?

Palewin,

Be glad to comment. I did significant listening over multiple sessions at my dealer.

Listened to Ayre, McIntosh and ARC. Swapped Pre amps and Amps. Did not feel the Ayre had the power to drive the Salon 2s. The McIntosh had more bottom end than both the Ayre and ARC but was not as musical nor did it have the wide soundstage the ARC has.

The clarity of the DS450 is tremendous yet it is not over analytical. Even my wife has commented on how the nice balance and musicality our system has now.

Pubul57 - I agree with your comments (in response to hifigeek1) on twenty year old designs being every bit as good.

There are manufacture who do not change their lineup every 3 or 4 years and are still in business - off the top of my head - Quicksilver, Dehavilland, Edge and CAT.

you can add Atma-sphere, Vandersteen, Music Reference, and Merlin as other companies that start with a solid basic design from day one and evolve over time, fine-tuning to a well sorted product with the need to reinvent a product line on a road map schedule like Intel; it is curious that some of my favorite products are companies with this product approach - I did not look for it, but it just happened to be that this happens to be the type of product I like, and tend to keep:)

ARC may come out with new products every few years,but how can one criticize when the continue to push sota forward?

But that IS the point isn't it.