Mark Levinson 32 or Audio Research Reference 3


My next upgrade will be a preamp and I want a Reference. After doing some research I have narrowed it down to these two. Can somebody who had both shed some light in how they compare in sound? I have Levinson gear at home so I am excited about the 32 however I can't ignore the possibility that I might be losing out if I don't go with the Audio Research Ref 3. Need help, Thanks

My System:
Mark Levinson 23.5
Mark Levinson 27.5
Proceed AVP2
Dynaudio Confidence 5
Dynaudio 1.3SE
Meridian 508.24
DH Lab Air Matrix Cable
Monster M1 Cable
128x128trance

Showing 1 response by almarg

A slight correction to Raquel's characteristically knowledgeable post.

Long interconnects will cause upper treble rolloff, not bass rolloff, if driven by a preamp having high output impedance (at high frequencies). The higher the capacitance per unit length of the particular cable, and the longer the length of the cable, the greater that effect will be.

Interconnect cable parameters and length have no relation to bass rolloff, at least to the extent that cable effects are technically explainable and predictable. As indicated, bass rolloff will result if all three of the following conditions are present:

1)Power amp input impedance is low, e.g., significantly less than 50K.
2)Preamp output impedance is high.
3)Preamp output impedance rises significantly as frequency decreases and approaches 20Hz.

Those three conditions most commonly occur when a tube preamp having a coupling capacitor at its output (as most do) drives a solid state power amp.

Regards,
-- Al