Founded in Minnesota in 1970, Audio Research is one of the historic names in American high-end audio. For more than half a century, the company has led the world in vacuum-tube electronics, advancing the art of music reproduction through exceptional engineering, enduring design, and an unwavering commitment to sound quality. Every Audio Research component is still built by hand in Maple Grove, Minnesota, and listened to before it leaves the factory.
William Z. Johnson started the company on the conviction that a carefully designed tube circuit would outperform the transistor amplifiers of the day, and the SP-3 preamplifier of 1972 made his case. The Reference series, begun in 1995, has carried the idea forward ever since: balanced, class A circuits, regulated power supplies and the company's own output transformers. Today the range runs from the I/55 and I/70 integrated amplifiers to the Reference 20 preamplifier and the Reference 330M monoblocks, with integrated amplifiers, preamplifiers, power amplifiers and phono stages in between.
Pearl Audio has been an Audio Research dealer since 2018. We deliver and install what we sell, test tubes in your home with the same tester the factory uses, and handle factory service for our customers. More on Audio Research at Pearl Audio.
The story since 1970 → Every Audio Research technology explained → Arrange an audition →
