Audio Research LS vs SP?

I have just purchased a SP 9 MKIII and the detail and imaging is great. I find it to be on the thin side. Steve Huntley at Great Northern Sound is going to upgrade the power supply to solve that problem. This preamp can be modified all the way to reference standards. I paid $825.00 delivered. I am going to use a Music Reference RM9 MKII amp. Best of luck. Richard

Cobra95 so far as what combination is right, it is hard to make a recommendation on an amplifier without knowing what the rest of your system is and how much power you need. I definitely prefer the ARC tube amps over the D200 which is a solid state amplifier that Brauser recommends but there are many things to consider. The ARC tube units run very hot, there is the tube replacement cost to consider and they may not work well with certain speakers. But on the up side ALL of the ARC tube amps especially the D series tube amps offer much better midrange presence than do the SS amps from ARC, IMO. Examples are the D-70, D-90, D-115, D-76, D-250 (mucho power!)and the D-79. I personally do not care as much for the Classic series which came after the D series amps. The VT series are also very good but you are going to pay more, they are the current models. Some of the above are in Audiogon and at quite reasonable prices. Solid state is the safe easy route but once you go with tubes you will have trouble going back to solid state. Many would argue that point so you really have to listen and make up your own mind.

Thanks for reply everyone. Yes, I definately want to go with tudes. I forgot to mention my systems. B&W N805, Pioneer Elite PD65, and Kimber 8TC biwire. I do listen to LP's and am thinking about upgrading my Pioneer once I am done with amps upgrades. Thank again.

Hi, at last I think you have now more ideas, and you can decide which one buy. It's important know if you'll change your speaker system or not; for me the best couple is SP10-II preamp and D79-III power amp; but the matching with some loudspeakers could be not perfect; could be interesting try CL 120, CL60 or CL30 (Here you MUST change absolutely the tubes, with russian ones). Finally, what you listen better will be your choice! Bye from Italy!