Audible Illusions Modulus 3 Audio Research SP-11

Does anyone own both of these preamps and can tell me if the Audible Illusions Modulus 3 is really that good?

I own both

I own four of them! Mk1 -Mk3! two MK1 versions!

There is no such thing as a MK3 technically speaking as Mofi said already. My understanding is the MK3 was nothing more than a "bling" thing for audiophiles with a gold faceplate. This is confirmed on this webpage.

ARC SP11 MK I and II

I personally see no reason to threw the AI off.

no reason at all, I agree and I do happen to own both.
An SP11MKII with a modded power supply for about 17 years and AI Modulus 3 for 8 - 9 years? (not sure)

IMO

For the money the AI is great value. I remember I had sold off my SP8 at the time and regretted it. That thick sounding baby SP10 preamp was great to tube roll with. The AI replaced it. Much closer in sound to the SP11 than the SP8. Also unlike what some others have said here I have had few problems with tubes.

The SP11 MK11 is an all assault design built in the heyday of vinyl by someone that knew a thing or two about how Music is engineered and delivered to us in digital and analog mode. It has on the fly GAIN for digital/analog and vinyl cartridge LOADING ! Sonically it is truer to neutral than the SP10 which i have also heard - same system.

On the fly gain allows for great adjustment of bad digital recordings. I have a friend that spent mucho dollars on a German preamp/phono stage and it takes him all afternoon to do one loading change. Sometimes he would throw out his back attempting it.

Now
The biggest thing about the SP11MKII is its secret weapon that either few know about or its just not discussed. But I will let those here in on it that are not aware. You see the SP11MKII has a stealth mode that ARC calls the HOTROD mode. Its called the bypass switch which disables most of the circuitry. When run in full mode with all its features intact including (balance) it is a good preamp. In HOTROD mode it becomes a window to your equipment before and after it. The AI can't touch it in my room.

I have owned and/or demo'ed - CAT, SP8 and SP10, Newer ARC, Allnic, Pass, Krell, Bryson, Classe preamps. The Sp11mkII remains to this day and is used in HOTROD mode only.

also fwiw - I owned OTL's for a year. I asked the Maker of the amps if he would be interested in taking a shot at a new phono stage for me to trial - he told me "why bother". He thought the SP11MKII was that good in hotrod mode. Have had many offers on it including the tech that upgraded the power supply. He was really impressed with its construction.

Stefanovitch - Do you understand how the bypass and gain features work on the sp11 ? If you have not heard the SP11MKII with bypass engaged, and direct outputs - imo - you have not heard this preamp.

I would never buy a reference level preamp/phonostage that did not come with on the fly gain and cartridge loading because the music we listen to is not standardized. Some has been recorded at high gain levels others not so much. The gain control separate from volume control allows you to adjust for this. Anyway some direct impressions for you.

Happy listening.

Fun thread :^)

09-26-14: Newbee
CtO517, On the SP11 does the hotrod mode apply to all inputs or just the phono input. In my SP 10 it only worked with the phono section. And, wow, did it work!

Hi Newbee - its all inputs on the SP11 MKII.

Page 5 of my Audio Research SP11 MKII Preamp Manual (noted price in the upper right side corner of the first page) $5.00
lol - u gotta love it. This is for a hand bound typed out manual from the looks of it. I dug it out to look for you.

Bypass Switch - In "Bypass" position, directly connects the Gain (volume) control to the output of either the RIAA compensated phono amplification circuitry or a selected line-level source (such as CD). The Balance and Mode controls, as well as the "Monitor" Switch are removed from the active circuit path when this Switch is in operation. The Bypass switch is provided for use with audiophile-quality program material or whenever maximum fidelity to the input signal is desired.

I cannot confirm the above for the SP11 MKI so I fired off an email to Kalvin at ARC to let me know.

Note: I misspelled "Bryston" in my previous post. Inexcusable for a Canadian. :^(

Happy listening

yes I use direct output + bypass = stealth fully hot
rodded mode :^)

The one downside of the SP11 to me; is it all sounds
sterile and cold until at least one hour in; then it just
keeps getting better and better. So I do a minimum hour
warm up. For a serious evening session it gets turned on
early in the day. The warm up period is also clearly
spelled out in the manual. It does however make me wonder how many have heard only a cold SP11.
the AI on the other hand to me seems to sound good from
the get go with just a short warm up.

Cheers