Audio Research Ref 6 SE

Got my REF6 back as a REF6SE last week.  Unfortunately, between the time I shipped it to them and when I got it back, there was a global pandemic (who saw that coming?  As a physician-scientist, I did.  Was bound to happen. TBH, this pandemic/virus is not even close to what I can imagine as a "worst-case scenario", we have an easy enemy-this time).

Anyway, the pandemic made my wonderful Manhattan apartment (17x24x11 listening room) no longer a good place to live, so my entire big system is in storage and I am staying at friends on Long Island, till I get vaccinated, or other preventative therapy.  Suffering through with a Roon Nucleus into KEF LS50W's, so don't need the preamp right now.

A brief comment about my REF6, now upgraded to REF6SE preamp.  I wish it was a simple evaluation, but I have moved twice since I packed up the unit in January and sent it to ARC, and November when I unpacked and started setting up the system in a new location.  For the last months it has been impossible to tell if the upgrade had made much improvement, since the room is so different.  However, on Friday night, I came to realize that the REF6SE is a higher resolving preamp.  I started playing with inverting the signal on multiple live music recordings and it was much easier to hear the difference between the two phases and come to a conclusion about which i thought was better.  This was much more subtle with the REF6.  To me it seems a clear indication of an area the SE is better in.