Upgrading cd player

Audio Research has had a lot of financial problems the past year. Things might be better now, and I wish them the best,  but if the choice was between them and McIntosh, a company that has been around for about 90 years and has as much broad support from the general public as a high end company will ever achieve, I’d opt for the Mac

I wouldn’t be that sanguine about ARC finances going forward, but hey it your money.  You already had voiced a concern in your OP about parts availability for ARC, which led me to believe that long term servicing issues were a concern to you.

It’s been a long time since an Audio Research component was in my system.  I had a preamp from the early 2000s that I was the third owner.  I enjoyed it but sold it when I was going through a divorce and saw it listed for a thousand more than I had paid for it, so at least back then they were holding their value.  I have to say the one Mac CD/SACD player that I heard sometime before the pandemic didn’t do much for me when I had it in my system for weekend.  I prefered the Oppo 105 that I was thinking of replacing, although the Mac had a bigger soundstage and looked nice, the Oppo sounded more realistic to me.  The Mac was big and hazy and I thought really poor value for money.

  Things change in digital, so my comments may or may not be relevant, except that both labels are known for cultivating a house sound.  If you can’t audition in your own system, I’d get the ARC, and forgo the pretty glass and meters on the Mac

Can’t believe they won’t let the OP do an audition.  My former dealer would charge the card a week beforehe released the unit for an audition, just in case someone was going to cancel their card after talking the unit for a weekend .  He then charged $150 for the weekend audition, which counted towards the purchase if you bought.  If you returned you were out the $150.  At the time I thought this was absurdly draconian,but if you are like the OP here planning to spend 12K then an extra one fifty for peace of mind is worth it