Soliciting Member Perspectives: Levinson vs Bryston vs Audio Research

Is it even possible to say "Levisnon vs Bryston vs Audio Research" without being pretentious? ;-)

I can't help you because I don't have a lot of experience but I have an old AR LS-16 tube pre-amp. I think it was one of their lower end pre-amps.

It runs through a Madrigal Proceed HPA2 (Dual Monaural, 250 wpc) which was designed by Levinson.

The combo was well researched to go with the speakers I have.

It works for me.

Sound is warm but not overly warm or colored. Bass is superbly tight and clear. Highs are distinct without being overly bright or tinny.

That is the sum total of my experience with these brands.

@oldmandave :

"but sadly find that my home geography suffers a severe lack of us"

Relatively speaking I think our home planet suffers (maybe not the right word) a severe lack of us.

I think the original owner of my system was aware of some synergy with Aerial Acoustics, Audio Research and ML. The components seemed to have been carefully selected and matched. My AR LS-16 runs into the Proceed via balanced XLR and drives the Aerial Acoustics 7Bs.

I can say a lot of things about the SQ of this system that may or may not be accurate or relevant based on my inexperience. But the one thing I can say with some certainty is that the system is invisible or maybe transparent. The speakers simply disappear and there is never a sense that sound is 'coming out of them'. It is just right there in the middle of the room.

Replace tubes every year? The tubes in my LS-16 are original. Maybe they sound terrible? I don’t know.

Would you replace them at their hour rating or when they failed? Some people change the oil and filter in their car every 3500 miles even though it is almost never necessary or even beneficial. Not questioning your approach or math, just wondering.