Audio Research Anniversary Reference 40 Preamplifier

Jonathan Valin has just posted impressions of the Audio Research Anniversary Reference 400 preamplifier to his blog. Some highlights:

The Anniversary Edition Reference preamp is fundamentally different-sounding—not just than the Reference 3 or 5 but than any preamp, tube or solid-state, I’ve heard. The Anniversary Edition Preamp is also more realistic than any preamp I’ve yet heard (save for one other that I will come to anon)…

First, this is the most holographic preamp I have (and, I am willing to bet, you have) ever listened to…

What the Ref 40 does that no other preamp does is reproduce instruments and vocalists with a three-dimensional “solidity” (the very meaning of the word “stereo,” BTW) that is simply mind-boggling (and unparalleled in my experience).

First there is a sheer density of tone color such as I’ve never before heard from any ARC preamp…

In fact, I’ve never heard a tube preamp and only two or three solid-state preamps that have the transient speed of this one…

And then there is the Ref 40’s dynamic range. It is literally shocking (and goosebump-inducing)…the Ref 40 makes a concert grand more "there" than any other preamp I’ve had in my system…

I will have more to say about Ref 40 and its chief rivals as time passes. What makes this sort of scary is that the 40 isn’t even fully broken in yet—and it’s already this good!

You can read what he has to say in full here.