Audio Research REF 3 Review: A Reference-Class Tube Preamplifier That Still Leads the Way

I don’t know how you got into this hobby, but my introduction occurred early in life, through the influence of my grandfather, Dr. James McVay. He didn’t necessarily push me to be interested in his passion for high-end audio — he already knew I was interested in my dad’s trade, which is music.

He just fueled my excitement about how the music sounded through the speakers and the system. He would tell me all kinds of stories about his DIY amplifier. Speaker builds, how he turned a corner of his basement into a dance hall, and another section of it into a legitimate German rathskeller, how he personally knew Paul Klipsch, and how Paul was helping him with the crossover and tweeter horn array for his DIY project. He was constantly searching for the right place to hide his speakers so he could get a semblance of a soundstage while keeping my decor-conscious grandmother happy.

He didn’t talk much about the dizzying array of brands in the hifi world except to say that Audio Research was the finest company in existence, with McIntosh fairly close behind. In his Hifi days, both of those companies were absolutely crushing it and pushing the standards for home music playback higher and higher.

Certain things stick around in your head, and this was one for me. Since I started here at The Music Room, I’ve been on the lookout for the familiar white box with the Audio Research logo.

Today I greedily snagged an Audio Research Ref 3 preamplifier from the new consignments and buys area, and carefully unboxed it and installed the tubes. What a flawless specimen! This thing needs good music input like a nice car needs high-test gas. Since I was also in the middle of testing an Ayre CX-7 CD player, I thought it a fitting dancing partner for the AR.

Oh, and these reside on the source side of things, so I am powering the system with PS Audio’s plucky little S300 class A/ A/class D hybrid amplifier. My new DH Labs Air Matrix XLRs connect the ensemble, and DIY speaker cables carry the music.

Want to guess how good this sounds? the Audio Research Ref 3 tube preamp is so good, I will probably sit here for way too long listening and not working. Sorry Josh!

Ayre, Audio Research, PS Audio. Given the excellent shape of both the Ayre and this Audio Research Ref 3 preamplifier, and the bargain price of a new PS Audio Stellar S300, and not to mention the sparkle and tone from DH Labs’ high-value silver cables… Is this not one of the finest starter high-end audio systems you can put together??

All that’s missing is a good DAC. And if you’re new here, TMR has a few used DACs — take a look!