Audio Research Reference 20 Line-Stage Preamplifier

Audio Research’s New Flagship Combines an All-New Mechanical Architecture With a Redesigned Power Supply in a Single Chassis

The Reference 20 is Audio Research’s new flagship line-stage preamplifier, developed from the ground up to advance beyond the company’s previous Reference designs. Rather than refining an existing platform, Audio Research reconsidered the mechanical structure, electrical architecture, materials, and power supply together, with the stated goal of achieving greater transparency while preserving the qualities that have defined its Reference preamplifiers.

One of the most significant changes is immediately apparent: the Reference 20 places its circuitry and power supply in a single chassis. It replaces the two-chassis architecture of its predecessor with a new construction that Audio Research says surpasses the earlier design while reducing the physical complexity of a reference-level system.

An All-New Mechanical Architecture

Instead of a conventional stamped chassis, the Reference 20 uses a layered, multi-metal construction engineered to control and disperse resonant energy. Critical circuitry is mounted to custom suspended, mass-loaded boards, further isolating the signal path from mechanical vibration.

This approach treats the chassis as an active part of the preamplifier’s engineering rather than simply an enclosure. By controlling resonance both at the chassis and circuit-board levels, Audio Research aims to preserve low-level information and spatial detail that can otherwise be obscured by mechanical interference.

A Completely Redesigned Power Supply

The Reference 20 also introduces a comprehensively redesigned power supply focused on lower noise and improved reliability. Advanced regulation is combined with newer component technologies, including next-generation film capacitors. Audio Research states that these changes reduce noise on the regulated power-supply rails by an order of magnitude.

Lowering the electrical noise floor is particularly important in a line-stage preamplifier, where very small signals must be amplified without obscuring fine information. Audio Research attributes the Reference 20’s increased resolving ability, dynamic articulation, and transparency in part to this substantially quieter power architecture.

A New Reference for Audio Research

The Reference 20 represents the latest step in a lineage that includes landmark Audio Research preamplifiers such as the SP-3 and Reference 1. According to Audio Research, the cumulative effect of the new mechanical platform, circuit implementation, materials, and power supply goes beyond an incremental update, delivering improvements in dimensionality, tonal integrity, timing coherence, and dynamic expression over its previous reference designs.

Features

• Flagship Audio Research Reference-series line-stage preamplifier
• All-new line-stage platform developed from the ground up
• Single-chassis architecture replacing the previous two-chassis flagship design
• Layered, multi-metal chassis construction engineered to disperse and control resonant energy
• Custom suspended, mass-loaded circuit boards for additional mechanical isolation
• Comprehensively redesigned power supply
• Advanced power-supply regulation designed for lower noise and improved reliability
• Next-generation film capacitors used in the power-supply architecture
• Regulated-rail noise reduced by an order of magnitude according to Audio Research