Why was the entry level line at Audio Research eliminated?
One of my first tube preamps was the SP-16. I believe it was the last preamp that founder William Z. Johnson developed. Price was around 2K-2.5K w/phono. It was an excellent reliable preamp. But now if you want a new entry level ARC it's not available. Too bad. Was it just not profitable. It was an excellent way to get into their gear and move up the ladder over time.
The pandemic stopped almost everything in its tracks, which was and is compounded by the parts delays by some of ARC's key suppliers. There is nothing to divulge now. If anything comes (big maybe), it will be a much more modest product.
With 2020 being the 50th anniversary for the company, will there be any products coming out in honor of that milestone like had happened at earlier milestones (most notably 40th)? Or did the pandemic skew anything that had been planned in that regard off course?
The good news and the bad news is that nothing has changed at ARC.
Everything is still made by hand, with every component soldered into every board by hand in their Minnesota plant. ARC bought a $100k wave soldering machine, which is what is normally used to solder parts into boards, but wave soldering does not sound as good as hand soldered pats in plated-through boards. ARC sold the machine. The boards they design and use are made for them by US manufacturers.
ARC also custom designs many of their own parts, including transformers, capacitors and wire, because they sound better than what's available off the shelf. That is expensive.
Every transistor (JFET, etc.) that they receive is measured and graded, with up to 23 grades according to the part. Specific grades are used for each circuit. In some cases ARC can use one out of two graded transistors; in some cases ARC uses one out of ten. Why? Because different grades sound different, and ARC wants every unit of every model to sound the same, provide the same great quality. Transistors that don't have the right grades are thrown out. That is expensive.
Output tubes are burned in at specific frequencies and levels for 48 hours before they are measured and graded. Why? Because new tubes change quite a bit, and this is the only reliable way to match them--after the change.
Every ARC product that has balanced connectors is a fully-balanced differential design because it provides the highest performance, lowest distortion, and lowest noise. They do not use "inverters" to create the balanced signal.
After every product is completed it is bench tested, burned-in for 24 (preamps) or 48 hours (amps), bench tested a second time and, if it passes, is sent for warm-up and listening in a reference system to make sure it sounds right. Because you can hear things that can't be measured. Then it is photographed from multiple angles to document its perfect condition before it is put in its shipping carton.
This is the best and most expensive way to do things. The bad news is that it is difficult to offer less expensive products with these standards.
The engineering team has remained stable, with a couple of experienced engineers brought in because of retirements. The mission and values have never changed. ARC's CFO became President and ran the company for little over a year after their former President retired (after 29 years). That was when customer support suffered, a live person stopped answering the phone, and their "entry level" products like the SP17 and VSi60 were discontinued. He was fired, thankfully, with the new President getting the company reoriented and pointed in the right direction. ARC has not forgotten their lower price points and are working on it.
primaluna line magnetic jolida other chinese made gear delivers on the modest to low end, arc can’t hope to compete, margin would be minimal, if not negative
new italian owners no doubt paid a premium for the company, amortizing the enormous brand equity, taking it international (read: china) with super high dollar ’reference’ level gear
I think part of the reason is the reality of the used market. If a company comes out with product X at whatever entry level price point, but one can get a hold of an upper line model gently used for similar money, that shallows the pool IMO. In the past, site like this one, USAudiomart etc didn’t exist. Could be part of the decision making process...
That’s good to hear. Hopefully things are better, but it would be nice to see them bring a couple models out that are more reasonably priced for people just getting into the hobby that might later move up the line.
Probably more to do with the new owners, and more focus on a world market than an American owned company catering to US sales. Not saying the direction they have taken wasn’t a wise one, but gone are the days calling them to ask a question, send in an old discontinued piece to get repaired or order a part directly. Even my local dealer has a heck of a time getting access to the new company. For the money a company like ModWright builds as good as or better than ARC, and there’s others as mentioned. ModWright is a great example that equipment can be made in The States that is built well, sounds great and at a reasonable price.
I'm not sure about the entry level models specifically, but ARC have removed sku's for the REF10 phono and preamps and others I forget. A dealer I spoke with earlier this week said ARC have only 7-8 sku's now because parts have become unavailable.
Audio Research has always been about Reference level products with some exceptions. In the past 15 years they haven’t produced much below that reference threshold they have set for themselves. I think most of it has to do with what they believe the minimum level they can achieve and still be considered reference by their standards.
Prima Luna.
I'd say so. Ck out the bidding on PL units,, Hot items. That is one brand which retains most,,well lets say a higher resale margin vs many other brands. PL is made in Spark lab,,, where Cayin is made, which i can testify matches up to any famous high priced american labs. I'd put my Cayin CD17 Mark 1(modded with new caps and new Descrete opamps. = $700 mod) ) up to any Cary cdp. in a shootout.
Hi, competitiveness both in pricing and performance. i believe ARC run out of ideas in entry level as sp-9 cannnot be stretched any further. Downsizing affecting production? I always remember ARC gear to evolve from low to high and not the opposite. Some companies are moving upscale, risky but inevitable.
Chinese amps have taken over that segment of the market (tube preamps, tube amps). American brands which formerly occupied that space have mostly had to move upscale (e.g. ARC, VAC), or die off. Rogue is one rare exception, that produces at any scale. Then there are a few of the small scale "one man" type operations too.
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