Heads Up: ARC is introducing the new SP-20 in Fall

Allnic is made in S. Korea.

Just for clarification, ARC is an American company in Minnesota, factory and all gear are made in Minnesota too. ARC is owned by a parent company called Fine Sounds which also owns Wadia, Sonus Faber and McIntosh. Both McIntosh and ARC have kept all operational systems the same. Wadia on the other hand, has downsized a bit and are sharing some quarters with ARC.

For what Syntax feels are state of the art gear, just look at his system page. I think he is a Lamm man and loves what Lamm does. I can understand this - Lamm products produce some of the best midrange sounds in the industry. That being said, I love my ARC stuff! And I definitely agree with all posters - prices continue to become more insane each year.

Rsfphil; thanks for the correction. I was thinking about their Gell tube damper and incorrectly stated they were American owned. Opps.

Joman, an attempt at bad Yiddish. Technically it is supposed to mean go in health. In the context of my post, it means, "whatever" or "ho-hum."

I own an ARC LS27 & a Ref 150 , I have over the last 40 years owned other ARC gear as well as stints owning VTL , Conrad Johnson , Threshold and other stuff . I can honestly and unbiasedly say that the current set up transports me closer to the sense of listening to music rather than components more than any other gear I have owned since starting on my quest back in 1973 with a Marantz 1060 integrated amp . Even my wife , who is not that technically inclined , gasped a big ' WOW ' when she saw the quality of workmanship in the REF 150 while I was installing the tubes . As far as I can recall , in inflation adjusted terms , the LS27 is significantly cheaper than what I paid for an SP8 back in 1983 .

Folks...it is great speculating about ARC's cost relative to the price they are charging for their products (Bifwynne's guesses are generally good rule of thumb but still there can be significant variations from his numbers from product to product) and ultimately, yes, manufacturers price to the what the market is willing to pay. And it may also be fun to bash ARC (or whichever brand you feel sucks and overpriced) and to defend ARC in response to the haters' comments.

I would however very much appreciate anybody's comments about the sonic qualities of the SP-20 (I know it's early and there may not be many folks out there who have received the unit yet but ARC has begun shipping the SP-20 out). I am an ARC owner (Ref 3, Ref 110, Ref CD 7) and I am familiar with the ARC sound, although I understand that the Ref 5SE and Ref 150/250 iterations have added more meat on the bones to ARC's traditional sound but does anyone know whether the SP-20 compares more to the LS-27 vs. the Ref 5SE on the linestage stage and more so the PH-8 vs. the Ref 2SE on the phono stage side.

You can see Marc Mickelson's brief comments here: http://www.theaudiobeat.com/blog/audio_research_sp20.htm but I am looking for any feedback from actual SP-20 owners or folks who have demoed it and have a familiarity with the current ARC linestage and phono line up who can place the SP-20 in the context of that line-up.

Appreciate any feedback. Thx

The SP-20 looks like a knockout piece. I too would be interested to hear read comments from folks who demoed it. By the way, my old eyes aren't what they used to be. Can anyone identify the speakers in Marc Mickelson pic?? The amps look like Ref 250 monos.

Can anyone identify the speakers in Marc Mickelson pic??

Those are the Sonus Faber Amati Futuras. The amps are the Ref 250s.

Now that Fine Sounds owns Sonus faber and ARC, I believe Sonus Fabers will be the speakers of choice for the ARC listening room

As far as I am aware , the companies in the Fine Sounds group are operating totally independently so it will be interesting to see if this turns out to be the case . As for myself , I would be tempted to rationalise my Ph5 and LS27 into an SP 20 if the sonics were comaparable .

By all accounts the companies owned by Fine Sounds do operate independently with the exception of Wadia which is now located at the ARC facility. In that regard, I know that they share some of ARCs administrative personnel. Hopefully, that's as far as it goes.
Having spoken to various members of the ARC working crew over the years, there was a consensus that Wilson speakers enabled the production team and the listening group to hear precisely what sounds their products were generating. ARC has kept Wilson 7s, then, I believe 8s and later Sashas as well as Maxx 2 and Maxx3s in their various listening areas.
Is it more than a coincidence that Sonus Faber (a perhaps more beautiful but slightly less transparent sounding speaker) is now in the house presumably in Wilson's place? Are there Wilson speakers in other rooms? Don't know.

I remember back in the Golden Era of hifi that ARC used Infinity RS1's and the Infinity IRS , myself , I used to own a pair of Infinity RS2b's . Although I have no doubt that the Wilson's are a step forward I really look back with fond memories of that monthly ritual of polishing my Infinity's with teak oil and marvelling at the quality of the woodwork , those Infinity's from the late 70's to late 80's were pieces of art , methinks .

Chris -- were the RS speakers the electrostats? If so, I remember those speakers too. They were spectacular.

@Bifwynne , no , they were not electrostats , they were planar , emits & emims ( electromagnetic induction midrange / tweeter ) & yes , they were spectacular . The Boss' Born to Run played at high volume through a pair of RS1's was a joy to behold , but not from the neighbours' perspective .....

I think the SP-20 is an attempt to make up for the oddball knob-less SP-17, which, AFAIK, garnered only 1 review.

When trying to figure out manufacturing costs of the unit, everyone has ignored the custom ICs required for the touchscreen control display.

I'd love to hear the SP-20 coupled with a Ref75 amp, but at $18k retail...wow and ouch.