Nice article. I love AR, I agree that it is the best sound I have ever heard (so far...) Whenever I hear Ref110 or Ref3 alone or preferably together the system is magical. My ultimate listening experience was them together with AR CD7 and Wilson WP7, at the local dealer. I went back a few weeks later with my wife to show her "what's this audio thing all about - and why 50 large?" It was the same gear, but sounded nothing special, maybe cold, maybe something out of whack, tube going bad whatever. Next time it was awesome again, but not quite to the same level with Ayre MX-R instead of Ref110. Even the salesman said the Ref110 is a much better amp. I look forward to the day when I can start buying their stuff. Actually the lower tier products aren't ridiculously expensive, considering the "house sound" and construction quality. Even a friend's Ref1 preamp is the best I have had in my own system, just perfect.
The local AR dealer told me that AR uses Wilson speakers to test and voice their designs, and vice versa, Wilson uses ARC gear for voicing the speakers. VTL also uses Maxx2 for their amp voicing. I would imagine a number of very nice speakers to compliment the AR electronics. I wuold like to hear Ref110 playing on Quad 2905, and the infamous combo of Magico Mini2 with Ref210s made famous by Jon Valin.
Ref110 and Ref3 preamp powered rebuilt Apogee ribbon speakers at RMAF this year. That was one of my favorite sounds of the show. I was there when Robert Harley came into the room to tell the exhibitor that he was naming him one of his best of show picks. The conversation ruined my audition, but was interesting to listen.
Thanks for the tour, great job.
Rich
