AUDIO RESEARCH VS VTL

Well well JeffVegas. You answered your own question.  Which is neither ARC or VTL.

I personally feel there is NO company, tube, solid state or hybrid that is KING over the others.  Each has their own idiosyncrasies. Good or bad. Sometimes good and bad.  Even in between their own models!
I feel the same for turntables, cables, cartridges, speakers, tweaks... 
Every person seeks their own personal sound of their system.  King, Queen, Princes and Princesses.  Royalty in Your their listening room.

ARC

Quicksilver is midfi. Not knocking it. Well made and has a huge following. But Quicksilver gear sounds like grandpa's old tube amp.

So this is how you NOT knock something?

Makes sense when you consider the source.......

Vac preamps offer remote thats not fully functional. Disappointing.

VTL cust service is not so good.  Dont work well with distributors i hear. Not many carry vtl.  Higher end preamp, series III woefully overpriced at $30k.