Audio Research D-240

Little is documented about the Audio Research D-240, but the period record covers the essentials. It was a solid-state stereo power amplifier introduced around early 1991. Audio Research's own advertising in Audio (February 1991, p.79) claimed the D240 finally brought the vivid dimensionality and fine textural detail of live music to solid-state. The ad said only vacuum-tube and hybrid designs had delivered those qualities until then. The same advertisement ran again the following month (Audio, March 1991, p.36), clearly pitched at tube loyalists who wanted solid-state peace of mind.

By 1992 the model had reached Mk II form. A review that year rated the D-240 Mk II at 120 watts per channel and called it a very capable, enjoyable unit. The reviewer drove a pair of Concert Grand loudspeakers and found the bass noticeably improved compared with a solid-state amplifier of similar power rating. Dealers were still announcing the brand around then, too - Harvey Electronics welcomed Audio Research into its lineup in Audio (February 1992, p.87).

Past those fragments, the record goes quiet. No original price, production years, circuit details or official specifications have been confirmed. The relationship between the D-240 and the D-400 Mk II, which appears in the same period literature, is not documented. It seems to have been a short-lived, lightly reviewed entry in Audio Research's early-nineties solid-state line.