Audio Research's Director of Marketing, Brandon Lauer, gave me a tour of the company's new value-oriented components, including the $16,000 GSi75 tubed amplifier rated at 75Wpc; $14,000 Reference Preamplifier 6; and the Reference Phono Preamplifier 3. Audio Research has replaced the KT-120 output tubes in all their amplifiers, including the GSi75, with the Sovtek KT-150 because of its superior reliability and longevity.
The Audio Research exhibit demonstrated the new Reference Preamplifier 3 and Reference Phono Preamplifier 6 in a system with a $13,000 Reference CD9 CDiPlayer, and Reference 250SE power amplifiers driving $45,000/pair Sonus Faber Il Cremonese loudspeakers. The system also included a $18,000 AMG Viella turntable with a $15,000 Clearaudio Goldfinger Statement moving-coil cartridge.
