Audio Research Amplifiers

Minnesota valve-electronics house founded in 1970 by William Zane Johnson, widely credited with keeping tube amplification alive through the solid-state years.

Founded: 1970
Founder: William Zane Johnson
Headquarters: Maple Grove, Minnesota, United States
Manufacturing: Minnesota
How to buy: Sold through specialist hi-fi dealers
Known for: Valve preamplifiers and power amplifiers; the phrase high-end audio

Currently, we have 2 Audio Research amplifiers in our database. Below you can find the list with their main specs and links to their review pages.

Audio Research Integrated Amplifier (1)
Audio Research Stereo Power Amplifier (1)

Audio Research Integrated Amplifier

	Model	Watts RMS (8Ω)	Amp Class	DAC	Phono
	Audio Research I/70	70 watts	Class A/B	No	No

Audio Research Stereo Power Amplifier

	Model	Watts RMS (8Ω)	Amp Class	DAC	Phono
	Audio Research S-200	200 watts	Class A/B	No	No

About Audio Research

William Zane Johnson founded Audio Research in 1970 and spent the decade arguing, against the prevailing view, that valve amplification had measurable and audible advantages that transistors had not yet matched. The trade phrase high-end audio is commonly traced to Audio Research advertising of that period. The company stopped operating in 2023 under its then owners and was bought and restarted in 2024 by a former employee.

Johnson kept building valve amplifiers through the 1970s, when the rest of the industry had declared the valve dead.

Audio Research is the reason a large part of the American high end is valve-based at all: had the SP-3 and its successors not sold, the 1970s would probably have finished the tube off outside guitar amplifiers.

Owned by the Fine Sounds / McIntosh Group for years, the company wound down in 2023 and its assets were bought in 2024 by Trent Suggs, a former ARC sales director, who restarted production.

Notable models: SP-3 preamplifier, D-79, Reference series.

Official Audio Research website

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