I have not heard the ARC, but I did have a Cary V12 go through the shop a little while ago as a used piece. FANTASTICO. Like most of Cary's new stuff I simply enjoyed listening to it. No analysis, nothing to jump out at you, just a great easy listening experience.
The old-time warm and inviting midrange was very easy to live with. It's a super piece and gives you some nice flexibility with it's switchable high/low power modes. I find that most of the time I prefered the lower powered setting for the nice harmonics and timbre. It was perhaps more tubey sounding and a little more 'alive' than my old ARC vt100. I did feel that my vt100 seemed to have a little more of an accurate sound to it though.
The old-time warm and inviting midrange was very easy to live with. It's a super piece and gives you some nice flexibility with it's switchable high/low power modes. I find that most of the time I prefered the lower powered setting for the nice harmonics and timbre. It was perhaps more tubey sounding and a little more 'alive' than my old ARC vt100. I did feel that my vt100 seemed to have a little more of an accurate sound to it though.