I too own an LS-26 and am totally smitten with it.
It does everything that has been mentioned above... it's fast, it's dynamic and it has just the right amount of warmth in the mid-range. It's my first experience with tubes... as I always thought I would have to trade speed and pace - for warmth. This simply is not true with the 26 - it gives you the best of both worlds.
I don't have any experience with any other ARC products - so I can't compare it to the 25 but it's a brilliant pre-amp.
My system contains:
Linn Unidisk 1.1 (source)
Meridian 861 (processor)
Levinson 336 (amp)
Aerial 10T's (speakers)
I highly recommend the 26.
It does everything that has been mentioned above... it's fast, it's dynamic and it has just the right amount of warmth in the mid-range. It's my first experience with tubes... as I always thought I would have to trade speed and pace - for warmth. This simply is not true with the 26 - it gives you the best of both worlds.
I don't have any experience with any other ARC products - so I can't compare it to the 25 but it's a brilliant pre-amp.
My system contains:
Linn Unidisk 1.1 (source)
Meridian 861 (processor)
Levinson 336 (amp)
Aerial 10T's (speakers)
I highly recommend the 26.