If you are looking for a vacuume tube sound your not going to find it in the LS preamps u mentioned, since they are hybrid designs. I used to own a SP-6B and liked it alot, although working on it is a rather big chore. The 6B has a lumpy frequency response. If you could find an 8B that would be better or a used SP-3 and get it updated when u have more money to spend to a 3C. That has to be sent back to ARC but they totally replace the power supply, tube sockets, coupling caps and volume control as the stock control was a noisy sucker. In this preamp u have defeatable tone controls, a nice feature. It might even drive a high output moving coil, or find a used step up device. BTW Im not a big fan of the SP-9/SP-14 unless their upgraded but they are still hybrids. G.Garfield
ARC LS1, LS2, LS3 , or LS7, which to buy?
Oh great and knowing Audio Research mavens, I have around $750.00 to spend on an ARC preamp. The models listed above are all in my price range. Can anyone sort out the sonic characteristics a bit for me, I have no way of auditioning any of these. Balanced outputs are not required. This is the start of a new system, so info on solid state power amps that have a synergy with the ARC preamps would be appreciated as well. Thanks, Marty.