I have heard the Reference 3, and it is everything you say it is. A couple of things you may wish to consider;

1) The Ref 3 only has 6.8 db maximum gain, compared to 12db or 18db in most AR preamps. This may be a problem if your power amp has less gain than the average or if your speakers are not efficient.

2) A lot of the $10,000 is invested in bells and whistles, if you ask me. I decided to buy the LS-16 Mark II, because for me the sound is glorious and the price is $3500. You only get 2 balanced inputs, and 4 unbalanced inputs, but that works fine in my system. If you need more balanced inputs, the LS-26 has eight inputs balanced/unbalanced AND selectable gain of 6db, 12db, or 18 db for each input channel. In some ways, I think the LS-26 has more features and sounds essentially the same as the Ref. 3 at $6000. It is a brand new unit, and I would certainly buyt it before the Ref 3 (I think there will soon be a ref 4 with better features).