Hi Samuel, I ended up spending over one year listening to many top preamps in my system, in my room. Among those that I auditioned in my system are the VTL 7.5 series 3, Dartzeel 18NS, and several other. I ended up preferring the new Krell Phantom. Like you said, the bass is unbeatable. Happily, with right combination of other components, the soundstage, timbre and detail is as good as the VTL 7.5 series 3 and Dartzeel 18NS too, so I am making no compromises, and I am very happy. Perhaps you should audition it some day.

I am not conflicted in saying this since I don't work with or am associated with any audio company of any sort, I work in the financial sector. Cheers.

vn101606 December 31, 2011 08:54

Thank you for your feedback regarding the Levinson, Krell and A.R. Refs. Cheers.

vn101606 March 22, 2010 01:01

Dear Samuel, I read you review of the A.R. ref. 5 in the other thread. I currently use Levinson #37, EMM LABS DCC2 se, Levinson 380S with a Krell 700cx and Dunlavy SC-VI, with NBS cables. For me bass is very important. I am considering the Levinson 32 and the A.R. Ref 5. I can not try them in my system before purchasing because I live in Brazil. How would you compare the bass of Ref. 5 vs something like a Levinson 32 or Krell 202. Thanks.

vn101606 March 11, 2010 22:56