Mark Levinson 32 or Audio Research Reference 3

I never had a Tube component in my house before. The AR REF3 is priced right and it seems to be a safe purchase. The Levinson 32 is a little harder to find and costs a little more. They are both Reference preamps, I don't know what to expect since I never heard either of them, that's why I could use some help from anyone who had a chance to compare them, both these preamps are highly desired. I can't afford to buy them together so I am hoping to hear from enough users about their experience with these preamps, this way I will be able to make my final decision, currently I am a little bias towards the Levinson 32.
The proceed AVP2 sounds great, I can only imagine when a real reference preamp would do to my sound, I want to get this purchase right and lay back.

I would like to thank everyone for the input. I chose these two preamps because they have an excellent resale value and they are highly praised and desired. I read the reviews all over the internet and these two units received the highest remarks. They are also priced within my reach. It seems the ARC REF3 comes around frequently, I can always find one for sale, however the Levinson 32 is a harder find.

Thanks Raquel, very informative, you just made it more complicated, I had 2 preamps to choose from now I have over 10 after reading your post, lol.
I use balance interconnects at home, I never experienced Tubes before, always had solid state, the usual Krell, Mark Levinson stuff. Don't mind going for a good Tube preamp, I would rather take a short cut and hear from users who had a few reference preamps to avoid the upgrade merry go round. I will look into some of those units you mentioned. Thanks