Amp/Preamp Asylum: REVIEW: Audio Research, Inc. LS-25 Mk II Preamplifier (Tube) by Remo

Model:	LS-25 Mk II
Category:	Preamplifier (Tube)
Suggested Retail Price:	$5500.
Description:	Stereo line-stage pre-amp w. 2 Russian 6H30 tubes, remote control, XLR and RCA connections for all inputs, 2 sets each of of XLR and RCA outputs.
Manufacturer URL:	Audio Research, Inc.
Model Picture:	View

Review by Remo ( A ) on January 16, 2006 at 12:04:25
IP Address: 62.252.64.15

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for the LS-25 Mk II

I bought this pre-amp as an update to my previous Audio Research LS16 MkII.
I tend to get comfortable with equipment and then just concentrate on listening to music. So in the nearly nine years that I've owned the Martin-Logan SL3s I started with the Krell KAV250 pre/amp combo and then went to the LS16II/VT100III. I thought that the LS16 was pretty good but the difference between the two is not subtle at all. The LS25 has more of everything.
I thought that I had bass before but I didn't know the half of it. When I plugged the new pre-amp in, the bass [over]filled the [admittedly small] room - never had that problem before. I had to pull the speakers a little further away from the wall and toe them in a little more. You read all this stuff about how crucial speaker positioning is, but it was never that important to my cloth ears - it sure is now.
All the other HiFi stuff is there with the LS25 too. Instruments previously buried in the mix are now clear for all to hear. When I sold my Linn Sondek 10 years ago, I knew in theory that CD was inferior but I was willing to put up with that for the convenience. My kids were smaller, the dog was boisterous - CDs don't get scratched, and so on. It didn't seem that big a deal, CDs were OK. I tried SACDs and DVDAs over the past few years - I thought they were better than CD, but not that much [cloth ears again?]. Now I know better - with the LS25 in my system some CDs are better than ever, but some sound like compressed mush in comparison. And SACD & DVDA? I now know why I originally bought the Linn in the first place.
In so many ways this is now the best system I've ever had. The sounds of all of the instruments are more real than I've heard in my room before. But... my old Linn/Naim system played tunes and involved me in the flow of the music in a way that this system still doesn't, quite.
The LS25 and the DV50 are long-term keepers, I think - so its the VT100 or the Martin-Logans that I need to look at next. Hmm...

Product Weakness: none that I can hear.
Product Strengths: all the hifi cliches are preent and correct - there seems to be more of there, there.

Associated Equipment for this Review:
Amplifier:	Audio Research VT100 MkIII
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated):	Audio Research LS25 MkII
Sources (CDP/Turntable):	Teac / Esoteric DV50
Speakers:	Martin-Logan SL3
Cables/Interconnects:	Transparent MusicWave BiWire speaker cables
Music Used (Genre/Selections):	Accoustic Music. Bluegrass. Traditional. Blues. Guitar: accoustic, electric, slide. Jerry Garcia, Richard Thompson, Ry Cooder, David Lindley.
Room Size (LxWxH):	15 x 12 x 8
Time Period/Length of Audition:	9 months
Type of Audition/Review:	Product Owner

Product Weakness:	none that I can hear.
Product Strengths:	all the hifi cliches are preent and correct - there seems to be more of there, there.