What is Audio Researches best preamp period

Oneobgyn:

No one was claiming that the LS5 MKII or the LS25 MK1 were the best ARC preamps. We were making recomendations based on affordability. $10,000 for a preamp is not cheap.

I can assure you that many posters on this thread are already aware of the REF3.

To Oneobgyn's defense....... He was only answering the poster's original question that so many of you have not......

The original question is: WHAT IS AUDIO RESEARCH'S BEST PREAMP PERIOD. I don't believe the original poster mentioned a price range...........

As a reminder, the posting says AUDIO RESEARCH........

I was merely answering the question asked at the start of the thread. The Ref3 BTW has the same MSRP as the Ref 2 Mk ll which many on this thread really liked.

boy its hard for members to stay on track,so far a have gathered,ls25 mk1, ls5 mk1, ref 2 mk1,should be in line to what im going to do research,noone talked much about ref 1 preamp,can i get some feed back one it?

Again, for me the answer is very simple..hands down the Ref3 is the best preamp ARC has ever made....period

I will also add my $0.02 that the Ref IMO is probably one of the top 3 preamps available in the market today. In order to stay on topic I won't post what the other 2 are but those interested can send me an e-mail for the answer.

FWIW Marc Mickelson from http://www.soundstage.com will be doing a review on the Ref 3 in the next several months