Bob Berryman

Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
1 to 3 months

Visitors rate this review
1.00 of 5, 1.00 votes

Price Paid:  $680.00 from Audiogon

Summary:
Hi there,the ph3, is a very fine phonostage ,i can live with.especially for the money they are now.I think i have the later model with electro harmonix tubes @ removeable power cord.Ive tried various good tubes ,to bring it up a few notches. For me 2 siemens e188cc,7308 have to be in there, they do lots of good things. @ a phillips- amperex e188cc ,7308 in there as well ,which gives a nice musical presence with mid range warmth, that i prefer.You may wish to experiment with a new power cord,i have, but theres nothing wrong with the original.With these alterations you may not want to upgrade,hope this is helpful to lots of you good people out there.cheers Audio Research.

Strengths:
Great value ,class a recomended

Weaknesses:
Its the best phonostage ive heard so far so i cant be negative.

Similar Products Used:
AR Ph 1,another good product,Bellari @ plinius

Smitty

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
More than 1 year

Price Paid:  $1850.00 from GNSC (Used)

Summary:
This is the Great Northern Sound Company (GSNC) Reference Mod. Steve and his gang of hifi craftman, bring the PH3 to the SE level - and beyond. Currenty running with Amperex NOS ecc88's from Andy at Vintage Tubes. (Note: Both Steve and Andy run companies that place a high priority on helping the customer. Steve was very kind with his time, and after a bit of discussion, convinced me not to send my AR SP9 ii for him to upgrade. Felt it would not deliver what I was looking for... Over a year later, the upgraded PH3 came back to him on a trade in, and he was correct - this is a quantum jump over the SP9 ii. Andy talked to my level, asked a few questions, then promply suggested the matched tubes burning now.)

So how does it sound. Nice, even, quick, full, solid mid's and clearn crisp highs, base is just what it should be, as the artist/mixer intended. At this price point, it would be hard to beat the bang for the buck and value GSNC breathes into the AR PH3....

Mixed With
-Scoutmaser
-JM9 Signature Arm
-Adcom Catridge
-Cary Cin11 Pre
-Cary Cin5 Amp
-Kenleigh Main Speakers
-Two Kenleigh Dual 8's Sub's
-Kenleigh SAM400 Sub Amp with crossover

Strengths:
Brings you into the music ,as intended.

Weaknesses:
None detected.

Similar Products Used:
AR SP9ii
Ear 834
Meridian G02

Price Paid:  $5200.00 from Audio Connection

Summary:
I also have an Audio Research PH3SE using Simon Yorke Turntable system with Clearaudio Insider cartridge going into Audio Silver Night 300B Monoblocks, Hovland, Harmonic Technology cables, with Sonus Faber Electra Amator 1 speakers. On the strength of the other reviews I bought some Siemens NOS tubes to replace the Sovtek. My experience differed from the other reviewers in that while the character of the sound was less bright there was no change is presentation, dynamics of amounts of bass. I ended up using the Sovteks supplied because there appeared greater clarity though the same information was being relayed. The PH3 remains an excellent phono amp and personally I wouldn''t change a thing to the SE model. I also changed the driver tubes on my Audio amps and similarly found little change to what I already had so tube rolling can be a waste of money...be careful!

Strengths:
Flawless operation Information retrieval and dynamics

Weaknesses:
None

Similar Products Used:
None

Summary:
I had the PH3 for a year and a half and upgraded to the PH3-SE. The difference was astonishing. Bass went deeper, the midrange was more fleshed out. Everything was more even. I agree with the other post below on changing out the Sovtek 6922 tubes. I recently put in Amperex NOS 1960's vintage 6DJ8's, and it was well worth it. Attack on guitar strings is more resolved so they sound more realistic, bass is better controlled, decays are fuller. That's not the best description, but the difference is serious. I understand that ARC cannot market equipment with tubes that will be hard to find replacements for, and so stay with the Sovteks, but please change yours out. I did the same with my ARC preamp, which had good impact, but not as dramatic as the phono preamp change.

Strengths:
Realism, clarity, great build quality.

Weaknesses:
None

Summary:
I am not sure if many of you know, but this is a one great
phone stage. I used it with a Grado Reference Platimun
cartridge and had to reduce the gain to 40dB (from 54dB). This was done at the factory with minimum cost to the user.
However, I noticed that the Platinum cartridge had some difficulties tracking the inner grooves and I decided to upgrade the cartridge to a Benz LO.4. Since then I have been very pleased with the results. This phono stage do
wonders to the voices. Bass is not bad, but not the ultimate and high are to the polite side, but natural. Recently, I replaced the Sovtek 6922 tubes with Siemens 7308 NOS tubes. WOW! now we are talking. Actually, a technician at AR made the suggestion. I had a rough time finding the
NOS tubes, but managed at the end. Now I find the base to be deeper and tighter, midrange tonal accuracy and presentation to be first class. These tubes also improved the highes; i.e., they sound more natural and extended, does not make you tired. If you love LPs and looking for a phono-amp, Audio Research PH3 is recommended without any reservations. This unit will give more in return for the money than anything I've heard. I used Siemens NOS tubes over Amperex 7308 NOS tubes a) Siemens have much tighter base than Amperex b) Siemens are less bright compared to the Amperex NOS tubes (I've Thiel 3.6 speakers which tend to be a tad bright and did not want bright tubes in the up stream). For your system, Apmerex tubes with PH3 might just workout. With proper system matching, PH3 will give you hours of listening pleasures. I will give 5 stars for value and 4 stars for overall quality (those Sovtek 6922 tubes are no good at all).

Strengths:
Sound Quality, Build-quality, and the PRICE

Weaknesses:
fixed gain stage; simple gain adjustment needed for MM

Similar Products Used:
Black-cube, Yamaha built-in phone stage