The ART88 Preamplifier has been designed to serve as an industry reference standard for line-stage preamplifier performance, a role filled for more than a decade by its legendary predecessor, the GAT preamplifier. At the same time, it is notable for its convenience and ease of use. The unit features input selection and level adjustment by microprocessor-controlled relays, allowing level and balance to be adjusted in 100 steps of approximately .7 dB per step. All functions can be controlled by the hand-held wireless remote control. The ART88 Preamplifier will be available in a numbered, limited edition of 250 units which will be sold through select conrad-johnson dealers. The ART88 is essentially a dual-monaural preamplifier, the two channels sharing only the power transformer and chassis. The circuitry is elegant in its simplicity. Each channel’s audio circuit features two high-transconductance twin triode vacuum tubes. Gain is provided by a composite triode of paralleled sections of one NOS Philips PCC88. This amplifier stage is coupled to the preamplifier outputs through a high-current buffer stage consisting of paralleled sections of a second PCC88 twin-triode. This buffer stage provides a sufficiently low output impedance to make the ART88 compatible with a wide range of interconnect cables and amplifiers. Each channel’s audio circuit is powered by its own dedicated DC power supply featuring discrete voltage regulators that isolate the audio circuits from each other and from the AC power line. Infrasonic noise is minimized by operating the tube filaments (heaters) on a DC voltage supplied by another regulated power supply.