The Reference 10, introduced in 2012, has held the mantle as the finest preamplifier ever built by Audio Research, and certainly resides among the great preamp designs across the industry. In 2024 the Reference 330M offered a dramatic new benchmark in amplifier performance, challenging Audio Research to create new preamplifiers that offered similar breakthroughs. The REF20 builds upon Audio Research's state of the art with performance that decisively advances both the expression and resolution of their flagship preamp well beyond prior boundaries. Both the new physical design and sound are not only a worthy successor to the REF10, but also a fitting partner to the REF330M amplifier. Dimension, scale, weight and authority are all improved, but sheer presence and precision are so startlingly improved that one will wonder how all of this is coming from a single chassis preamp. Accepting pre-orders now with a retail of $48,000.
