Has anybody heard the new Audio Research LS 27?

I agree with what you say, to me it is a bit of the hyped up nature of things in this hobby, you would think this stuff sounds more real than real by now:) I think most of us can also agree that ARC has been making wonder tube preamps for a long time - they undoubtedly know what they are doing, whether they are you cup of tea or not the obvioulsy have made many listeners happy with their efforts.

I haven't heard an LS27 but I intend to buy one nonetheless , All indications are that it is a cost effective upgrade from my LS17 ( which incidentally I am perfectly happy with ), having not listened to anything else since I bought it .

Spirited discussion about ARC's constant upgrades etc has been going on since the late 1970's , so nothing has , or will , change .

I regard ARC as a value for money premium product .

now there's sensible thinking....I didn't want to insult you and say we're like-minded, everyone knows I'm crazy!

You haven't heard the LS 27, you're perfectly happy with the LS 17 and you haven't listened to anything else since buying the LS 17 for comparison, yet you're going to buy the LS 27 because ARC makes premium value for money product. Just to be argumentative, are you really making an informed decision or is it an act of faith?

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

Personally, I think the state of the art was maxed out years ago and now they are just offering products that are more complex and different sounding, but not really better. I would not mind seeing a rerun of some former products that were great for the time and still better than 95% of what is made.