Hello Starboard!
I have one and love it. Totally quiet and to my ears does not add any color to our music. The soundstage is wide and deep.
In my case I could hear a marked difference from my prior Preamp (a Lexicon) since I went from a digital wonder from the 2000’s to this tube piece. I can’t compare to my prior AR since I never had the AR at the current home.
The remote is solid, its made out of metal with no nonsense.
Physically its a stunning piece. It has a peculiarity and it is that the power cord is on the left side of the unit and not on the back panel.
I’ll add that I got mine from John at Kevalin and John is very nice. He has followed up and gave me some good pointers on other matters on my system (not selling me other stuff but as a fellow enthusiast).
What else do you want to know?
Where are you located?
Edit: the volume control is awesome! I am using the stock tubes but got me some vintage WE 417a which I plan to roll into later tonight!