Should I consider the newer Audio Research pre & power amps, when I play records not CD's

I appreciate the help very much. I never realized I was so far out of date. I listened to ARC years ago but could not afford it. I am not dead set on ARC and am now realizing there are great companies out there, producing a high quality products. Why do you need DACs and what are some good phono preamps?

 Listen to everything you can. Make a long term plan. Synergy is very important. You can have an excellent sounding piece of equipment, but if it is not a good match for your other pieces. It will just sound mediocre. Also do you want the up keep of a tube amp? There is expense in replacing the output tubes every 2000 to 3000 hours.

 Audio Research is some excellent gear. I have owned it since the late 1980's. But like any company some pieces are better than others. The amps made a major change in 1988 with the Classic series. A more modern sounding higher resolution tube amp. These amps can still hold there own against more modern Audio Research tube amps as well as most others. If I was going to choose the best bang for the money ARC amp it would be a Ref 110. An truly excellent sounding amp that can be found used for a really good price. It can run KT120 tubes and has an hours meter. If you don't want to deal with having to replace tubes. I would go with a Pass amp. Some of the best sounding solid state amps I have ever heard.

 For a line stage I would go with an LS25 mk2, Ref 2 mk2 or Ref 3. The Ref 5se is significantly better but used would still be twice the price. They will all mate well either either ARC or Pass.  A phono preamp really depends on the type of cart. For MM a PH5 is a nice sounding Audio Research phono pre. A PH7 if you are thinking MC. Audio Research has always been known for excellent preamps.

 You need to at least listen to Audio Research before making a decision. They make some of the finest sounding gear in the world. I have owned their gear off and on since the late 1980's. I have moved away from them a few times but always ended up coming back after a short time.

  

I also have always wanted an Audio Research Preamp (well, maybe not always, but at least since 1974 or so).  I finally decide to just do it, and my used LS25 MkII arrived 2 days ago.

You don't state a cost limit, but they do make an outboard phono stage, ase well as a new SP series with a phono stage (SP-20?), so check their web site.  There is also a 3rd party site listing the entire product history if you want to buy used.

I don't use records anymore so was only interested in line stages (LS-x).

Early on, they had knobs and very nice switches and ARC has always had a lot of control functionality as well as a very detailed rendering with a bit of extra mid-range (euphonic) but never a fat, bloomey sound.  They have always aimed to be the best.

My LS-25 has the switches along the bottom (which all trigger relays), but the knob rotation for control is gone.  Instead, you twist the knob and hold it to change volume, balance, etc.  I don't like that as well, but it does get rid of the pots and their SQ problems.

The LS-26 and newer SP-x preamps have a clock to monitor tube usage, and a display panel (where the LS25 has LEDs in an arc to show volume settings, etc.)

I agree you will need to do some extensive listening to decide which has the sound you like best, as well as evaluating control functionality and the longevity of the company, since a long warranty is of no value if a co. goes out of business.  Indeed, even paid repairs can be an issue.

BTW, you will want to read up on the new benchmark amp - it includes some new technology to reduce crossover distortion and is said by Stereophile to match amps 5x its price.  You also don't have to worry about the cost of new tubes every year or so.

A tube pre-amp with a quality SS amp may be all the tubeyness you need...