Mcintosh Group sells Audio Research

[triode12]

Originally Posted by doggiehowser

Having used the Ref5 then Ref5SE and Ref6 now, all I can say is good riddance to the old flick knobs. Hated them. The new rotary dials are sooo much better to use.

And they also swapped sides for the input and volume. Finally. [emoji848]

To me there is nothing retro about them.

And I did love the look of the Galileo series. And I’m glad they retained some of those changes in the Ref6

Yes I agree with you regarding the click potentiometers/switches of the REF5SE (I have a Ref5SE and dislike them too) and but they can also use the same rotary potentiometers with the same lab look knobs -they have been that way since the 70s. As to the swapped sides, the older preamps always had the Vol on the left hand side since the SP1 and SP3 (with the knob design that the Ref6 is trying to emulate) - so it always been that way and a conscious decision by the founder - William Z Johnson. The Ref6 screws up this tradition.