Audio Research Ref 160S Stereo Power Amplifier

Now on demonstration this is the much awaited successor to the Ref 150 and incorporates the revisions that made the Ref 160 mono blocks the "best amplifier in the world".

This Stereo version uses the same four layer circuit boards that dramatically decreased the signal length in the 160M monoblocks. It has been described as like buying a pair of 160Ms but just buying one and getting the second for an extra twenty percent ...

With eight KT150 valves inside ... and not just any KT150 but a group of specially made and selected and matched ... this has the option of Ultralinear or Triode modes of operation.

Ultralinear gives double the power apparently while triode offers the simplest circuit mode possible with lower power and sweeter sound.

And the first review from "Stereophile": Stereophile January 2020 on the Reference 160S