Audio Research Reference-5SE Mint / Silver / Free Tubes & Shipping

I am the co-owner of Ultra Fidelis, a high-end audio and home theater boutique in Milwaukee Wisconsin, and we are an authorized Audio Research dealer.
I am offering for sale my personally-owned Audio Research Reference-5SE vacuum tube preamplifier.

The Ref- 5SE has a natural/silver face plate, knobs and handles, with a black cover.
The serial number is 12004913 and, since the original set of tubes have over 2,500
hours on them, I am also including, at no additional charge, a complete
set of Audio Research factory matched replacement tubes (one 6550 and five
6H30’s). This is an additional $440 value and effectively offers the “best of
both worlds”: a completely broken-in pristine preamplifier, without the
customary 600 hours of waiting for all the electronics to come around, but with
a full back-up set of new factory tubes. The original set still has a lot of
life left in them, so you can make the choice to run them until they begin deteriorating, or just drop in the fresh set immediately.i Both sets are packed inside the unit and shown in the photograph with the top removed just prior to packing.

The “SE” version of the original Reference-5 was a dramatic upgrade and
included many of the technical improvements that trickled-down from
the $24K two-piece “Anniversary” pre-amp. It won raves from both Stereophile and
Absolute sound. As Brian Damkroger wrote in his Stereophile review: "Regardless of the genre or scale of the music, the Ref 5SE brought about a fundamental,
not-subtle jump in my system's performance.

It was like hearing a good direct-to-disc record for the first time, or maybe an
analog master tape. It wasn't just a question of being a little bit better,
or better in one or two ways—it was a broad-brush, wholesale improvement,
like going from two dimensions to three, or from black-and-white
to color. It was almost the sort of fundamental change in the fabric of the
music that (dare I say it) separates live music from recorded. Summing-up my
experience of Audio Research's Reference 5 SE preamplifier is pretty easy: I
was smitten. I hear a lot of great audio gear, but it's been a long time since
I've been so taken with a component. I can't imagine anyone hearing the Ref 5
SE and not falling head over heels for it. It's been a long time, too, since I've
heard a component that seemed to be so fundamental and significant
an advance over all others I've heard.” That pretty much mirrors how I have
felt about this preamp too…..but now I’m breaking-in a new Ref-6 and it’s got a
pretty high bar to get over. 

I am the original, and only, owner of this piece. As mentioned above, it is fully
broken-in and will include a full unused factory-matched tube set with zero
hours. I live in a smoke-free, child-free, and pet-free home and this unit is
in pristine condition; there are no scuffs, scratches, blemishes, or
imperfections of any kind; if it came in a sealed box, you'd think it was
straight from the factory.

Shipping to any buyer in the Continental United States will be provided at my expense, full insured, via UPS Ground on the next business day after payment,
and tracking information will also be provided via e-mail. I’m sorry, but I do not
ship outside the Continental United States and I will not discuss voltage
conversions for use in other countries; please buy locally from authorized
Audio Research dealers.

Payment may be made via PayPal, Visa, MasterCard, cashier’s check, or wire transfer but I will only ship to the address associated with the payment account ...no exceptions unless we knew each other in high school.

There are additional fees forPayPal or credit card use and no sales tax will be charged.

Full specs are available on the Audio Research website. You can check out our business at www.ultrafi.com and please look at our flawless feedback
here on Audiogon if you have any concerns ....our reputation and our business are a whole lot more important than any sale, so we always under promise deliver.

Thanks for looking and please either e-mail ([email protected]), or give me a
call on my cell (414-630-1131) if I can answer any questions.

Scott Wilson,
Ultra Fidelis - A Better Audio & Home Theater Experience