Audio research

Lostbears,Thats just what I was going to do.The guy i might trade with is an old audio buddy.If I decide not to take it he already has a buyer.Would love to try out an ls25 or a ref 5se but way out of price range. For the used price of 500 to 600 hundred bucks I think it might work great.Will probably update caps and a few other things later,I have an awesome tech three miles away.But thank you for your suggestions,its a great hobby to many people are missing out.

Thank you Elizabeth obviously you understood my question.I know there is no contest between a reference audio research and a sp9,just wanted to get some input on the two units, its just going to be a trade between a couple of old audiophile buddies ,I,m not spending a cent or will I take a lost at all.He will just take it back if its not to my liking and sell to someone else with one phone call.I am sure it will sound fine I have great speaker cables  power cords interconnect vintage 6922 tubes to try out to hear what works best.I do have a question about the faceplate it looks like a newer one compared to the 1st couples of years.The faceplate looks just like my ls3 accept with the added phono .Would you know which year that unit might have been made,it really does look like brand new mint out of the box.Thanks MAXWELL