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Audio Research, next upgrade?

I have been upgrading recently and have had great fun and results. I really like the Audio Research line and I am slowly working my way to the Reference products. I would like to hear what everyone would suggest as the next piece to upgrade, ie CD, Pre, or Amp first. My current system is:
ARC CD3 MKII
ARC LS 26
ARC VT100 MKII
B&W 801
The system sounds great as -is, but always looking for the next improvement.
Thank you
vdosc
swampwalker's avatar
swampwalker
5,138 posts
 
Assuming that your amp and speakers are a good match (I have no idea), then I would suggest getting the best pre-amp you can swing.
pubul57
3,712 posts
 
Seems pretty hard to really improve significantly over what you already have, other than what Swampwalker mentions, which is if the B&W is really an ideal speaker load for a 100 watt tube amp - possibly not, but not sure about that. Other than that, I can think of a lot of people that would be pretty darn happy with you ARC array.
theo's avatar
theo
2,659 posts
 
There are a few Ref5's showing up from time to time here on Gon. Your LS26 will still bring a good price. That might be a good change.
vdosc OP
51 posts
 
Actually the B&W (801f ) sounds great with this amp. A lot of people on here say that you must have a very large amp to drive these speakers, and they will indeed take a lot of power, even though they are rather inefficient (85db) they are an 8 ohm load. They will easily get louder than I care to listen at. But I prefer to listen at low volumes late at night. And yes I am very happy with my system, but you know how the upgrade fever goes, so I was soliciting opinions as to which piece would make the most notable improvement: source, pre-amp, amp, etc
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