Need to learn about Audio Research


Still exploring amps and preamps to go with my Magnepan 3.7i. 
I've always heard about Audio Research being a great match, but I'm not familiar with the brand at all.
I'll need to shop the used market since the new gear is way out of my price range. 

I am looking for a high power (100wpc +) amp and a preamp that has remote control. I'd like the preamp to be tube, and the amp could be either solid state or tube.
I don't know at what point in the model lineup remote control was added, but it appears most of the older gear did not have a remote. 

Any AR experts here?

traudio

Showing 1 response by sns

My experience pretty much mirrors @whart  I well remember hearing the big Maggies with all ARC setups, one of my early references for high end sound, this in 1970's. I only owned a single ARC piece, this SP9MkIII, very disappointing, one of their 'bleached' out offerings.

 

I too migrated towards horns and SET amps, this gradual move over a number of decades and experience with a variety of amp topologies. I don't doubt you'd find some more recent ARC offerings to match well with the Maggies, my issue is the more powerful the tube amp the greater chance for reliability issues and expensive repairs due to added complexity. High power tube amps put out a lot of heat, heat is the enemy of reliability.