Finally got a chance this AM to listen to the booty I plundered at Acoustic Sounds last week when catastrophe struck-pssst, poof, psst, poof from both channels as well as lowered volume-the sound of good tubes gone bad in the Ref 3. Luckily my old Sonic Frontiers SFL-2 was still collecting dust in the bedroom. Plugged it in and WOW. What a fundanentally different sound! The Sonic Frontiers is much more tubey and warm-cuddly even- it brings the performance into the room while the Audio Research is a bit leaner and more tidy. It transports you to the venue. I had not listened to the SF since I bought my Summits and was not prepared for the huge difference in sound. I am shocked as well by how different my system sounds than the one we heard in Lawrence. I think this sort of drives home the point to me of just how transparent the Summits are and how well they reveal differences in associated equipment. I am curious what the Summit owners (who heard the demo in Lawrence) thought about the demo system as compared to the sound you are getting.