Audio Research Ref. 3, Ref. 5, or the Ref. 5se.

ARC business plan has always been about upgrading. They come up with a new power and pre-amp on a fairly regular basis and within 12 to 24 months they are offering an upgrade. From a marketing point of view this is ingenious. They keep people on the proverbial treadmill on a constant basis. And since they have such a loyal following a good percentage of their customers will upgrade. When it comes to the upgrade business no one is more successful than ARC. 

No one can answer the question is it worth the extra money but you. On the used market you are looking about a 3000.00 difference in price between the Ref-5Se and the Ref-3. Like everything thing in audio it is all subjective

I think the Ref-3se is extremely rare. In fact I don't think I have ever seen one for sale.

At a retail price of 13k I don't know how anyone could call it a giant killer. And I am not an ARC basher. I currently own 2 pieces of their gear. 

Do you mean ARC?

Tsushima1,

SR doesn't make a 7 amp slow blo in the red version. The closest they make is an 8 amp.