Final? ARC Chapter...

So shallow to value looks over quality of sound.  I heard the Acora speakers at the 2022 Axpona in Tampa.  I almost walked past the giant room with the two diminutive speakers until I heard music coming from them.  They sound spectacular.  

I was using Yamaha gear in the 1980s up until I heard an ARC preamp.  The Yamaha gear was very attractive and sophisticated looking.  I recall at the time thinking about how plain the ARC preamp looked in comparison.  A flat silver face, four knobs, a couple of green lights and some toggles that didn't really compare to the more flashy gear at the time- and some with colorful fluorescent displays.  I grew to appreciate the industrial look and incredible sound.  ARC preamps' beauty is on the inside.

I'd say you can't see the gear in the dark but my system has so much resolution and detail that it creeps me out if I try to listen in total darkness now.  It feels like people are moving around in the room.  

Agree that everyone has different tastes.  ARC is a force and major player in the Hifi industry- of that there is no doubt.  We have lost too many icons in Audio already.  Hate to lose another.

CLEEDS. Thanks for your response.  Was very much appreciated 🙏.  That is great news to hear that AR and the company staff will still be up and running making some of the best sounding equipment on the market. I own the ar sp3-a1.  To my ears the BEST SOUNDING TUBE PREAMP EVER MADE!!!!

I have never owned any ARC gear, But have never thought of it as mid-fi

Always sounded decent to me when I ran across ARC systems.

I have friends who have owned and thought very highly of the brand.

Seems some here like to berate certain brands, Opinions are like butts everyone Has one.

Maybe if you have no bad personal experience to share about a brand, your opinion might be best kept to your self. There are a multitude of reasons why you may or may not  appreciate a product.

Better to say you it's not for you than insult the owners of the product.

When Audio Research belonged to the same group that owned MacIntosh, the strategy was that Mac would have the intro gear and then when a customer wanted to step up they could point them to ARC or higher end MAC gear depending on their interest. The ARC gear being audiophile stuff.. catering to high definition and musicality and Mac with the muscle machines. This way they could capture either direction.

I am sure Trent would have revamped the product lines. He had a great vision for the company. By the way, if you haven’t heard the $6K integrated it might be worth your while. The sonic performance is amazing. I compared a $10K Luxman and Pass with it recently… and while you could make a great case for the Pass, my eyes would close and I would just fall into the music with the ARC I-50.

As far as Audio Research being audiophile gear. It is the penultimate audiophile gear in my experience. It is dedicated to recreate the real thing… the rhythm and pace… the detail of real live music… not the current fad of hyper detail, slap you down bass, or what ever the current fad is.

Forty years ago I would wonder through the audio research dealer showroom (after driving two hours to visit the audio store) and see these old guys that could afford to buy Audio Research gear. I was so jealous. The listening sessions I had there were so different and compelling compared to others. For at least a decade a used bottom of the line ARC preamp it stopped me from constantly trading preamps. Each previous preamp I would like for a couple weeks until I found some flaw in its sound (grain, or sheen), which I could not unhear after hearing.

I have listened a lot to Rowland, Boulder, Pass (I have owned Pass for over thirty years), Mark Levinson, MacIntosh, and others, the only company that has remained dedicated to wholistic, realistic, and complete reproduction of music is Audio Research (also… Conrad Johnson and VAC is really good). Others excel at some aspect… or several aspects… but seldom get the whole thing right. So, at least for me, Audio Research is the apex of audiophile equipment. While along the way I could no own all ARC equipment, my research and experience lead me slowly one piece at a time to an all ARC system.

I really for this transition does not destroy this great company.