$510.00 for an Aluminum cover for the ARC Ref. 10?

I believe ARC recently become another rip-off industry.

how is this different than any other "audiophile" product. i mean pro-ject sells a bubble level for $30.

I am more intrigued by the figure itself. Why $510 and not something else?
Yeah, I think they are laughing to the bank. I am unfamiliar with them but dislike them already. $510 for this is BS unless this includes a dealer coming over to install it. Then it might be OK.

Like Mitcht said" spend 30k on a pre-amp and they ding you 500.00 for a cover" spend 10 times that on a Ferrari and pay 3500.00 for a carbon fiber coffee cup. The bottom line is they are laughing all the way to the bank.

First I believe the Ref 10 has 2 tops not 1.

The Tops should be covered by warranty if the unit is less than 3 years old.

If it is over 3 years old then call the ARC service department and complain. It is a design flaw and ARC knows it. They will likely give you a discount on the metal tops.

Its true.

Expensive stuff usually means expensive parts and support, just like with cars.

Same laws of physics apply to all luxury items.

They know we can't do without and everything must be perfect. There is no escape.

Tell them you can't afford it and your willing to sell the thing and take an even bigger loss just on principle.

Maybe they'll cut a deal to help keep a customer happy.

I own an ARC pre-amp and like it and ARC a lot. I've bought replacement tubes from ARC. They were not cheap (almost as much as your lid) but of good quality and have lasted pretty long (jinx...not I hope). So I was happy.

.
ARC figures that if you could afford a $30k preamp, to ding you $500 for a lid, you probably wouldn't notice.
.

I your Ref 10 is under warranty it should be covered. Talk to your dealer. The top of my Ref 5se had a slight warp from heat. I complained to my dealer and he asked if I would prefer a metal cover instead. I told him a replacement poly cover seemed pointless. ARC sent me a replacement metal cover under warranty. My Ref 5se was almost a year old at that point.

Copy it, start making and sell for half price.