ARC announces price increase effective Mid-March '24

[Lee]

I have owned a range of ARC products for more than 30 years, since the original Reference 1 preamplifier, the Reference 1 phono preamplifier and the VT 100 Mk2 amplifier. I now enjoy the ARC 6SE preamp, the Reference 210 amplifier, the Reference 3SE phono stage and the Reference CD8.

In all these years, I’ve not had one ARC component fail on me. Perhaps I’ve been lucky. But just comparing the build quality of the 6SE preamp to an equally pricey Conrad Johnson GAT S2 that I recently got for use with a single ended SET amp, I’m amazed ARC can build stuff like this at the prices they charge. Their construction quality is very high quality. My Ref Phono lasted 25+ years. This stuff can be handed fine to your grandkids. It’s not cheaply made.

While I dearly love my Lampizator Pacific DAC, compared to ARC, it looks like a product made in someone’s garage! There’s a lot that goes into making an ARC product. I’m not disagreeing with the premise that this storied brand is in serious financial trouble or that they need a huge shot in the arm in terms of new products (how about a Reference ARC media server?), but comparing their ARC Reference CD players to the junk CD players most audiophile companies put out, it’s laughable how badly high end audio products are designed. In the last 30+ years, I’ve owned countless digital products from many famous audiophile brands that were just atrociously made. Compared to those horror shows, the ARC Reference CD8 just goes on and on. It reads any CD, ANY CD, in half a second! Sounds better in many ways than my Lampi Pacific playing compressed Roon streaming.

I would like to see them succeed, but they do need to introduce new products that merit the high standard we have come to expect from them. They are notoriously conservative. They championed CD playback and ignored SACD and DVD Audio as too fringe and having inherent problems. That’s completely justified. SACDs have all but disappeared. But streaming is here to stay. ARC needs to introduce a Reference streamer. Among other things. The price increases are not out of the ordinary. It’s the cost of building everything in house. And listening to each and every component before it leaves the factory. When was the last time you bought a pair of trousers that the person who tailored them signed off on and personally supervised their packaging?

I agree with much of this but digital requires a very specialized skill set and is a different world from ARC's core skill set in designing amplifier circuits.

 

[Lee]

What happened to sound by singer? Lyric hi-fi? Two huge dealers you can Google that and read it for yourself. Not hard to observe the trend. Look at the description about new items that have sparkle lol thirty years ago that was called bright why has that become a trend? Think about that the community is getting older and there hearing is failing? It may be different in China and Russia the two biggest hi-fi markets but in North America it is in decline you just have to look around. The dollar figures might still be there because of the very quickly rising prices but that doesn't transfer into more boxes sold. By the way I was and still am the owner of my company agriculture can bury hifi in dollars sales just as many industries can. I have yet so see a class of investments discussed on any financial advisors outlook pages that names hifi something to invest in.

NYC rent is bananas. Andy Singer has a new by-appointment store. What about new dealers that have arrived like Next Level, House of Stereo, Bending Wave, etc.?

Hifi is a niche business. I can name a hundred niche businesses that financial advisors don't mention.

 

[godofwealth]

Living in the frenzied Bay Area world, where every few years a new trillion dollar company seems to emerge (nVidia, Apple, Google, and Meta have their headquarters within a short distance from my house), hifi is not a business that would traditionally have attracted the major VC firms here on Page Mill road (near Stanford, the nerve center of the Bay Area VC business).

But generative AI technology is one of those once in a generation disruptive technologies that will completely redefine the creative industries (cinema, music, audio and much more). Vast sums of money are pouring in, literally billions each and every day. Streaming will be completely revolutionized by generative AI in the next few years as will every aspect of making movies, creating music and art etc. if you have seen Open AI’s text to video demo called Sora, it sent shockwaves through Hollywood. Literally anyone sitting in their armchair can create video sequences that would previously have taken an army of special effect engineers, extras and location shooting that would have cost studios many millions of dollars. It roughly takes 5-10 million dollars to shoot every minute of an action film. Wham, now it costs almost nothing!

Generative AI will redefine the hifi industry as it will completely change the way people consume music.

 

[Elliot G.]

Living in the frenzied Bay Area world, where every few years a new trillion dollar company seems to emerge (nVidia, Apple, Google, and Meta have their headquarters within a short distance from my house), hifi is not a business that would traditionally have attracted the major VC firms here on Page Mill road (near Stanford, the nerve center of the Bay Area VC business).

But generative AI technology is one of those once in a generation disruptive technologies that will completely redefine the creative industries (cinema, music, audio and much more). Vast sums of money are pouring in, literally billions each and every day. Streaming will be completely revolutionized by generative AI in the next few years as will every aspect of making movies, creating music and art etc. if you have seen Open AI’s text to video demo called Sora, it sent shockwaves through Hollywood. Literally anyone sitting in their armchair can create video sequences that would previously have taken an army of special effect engineers, extras and location shooting that would have cost studios many millions of dollars. It roughly takes 5-10 million dollars to shoot every minute of an action film. Wham, now it costs almost nothing!

Generative AI will redefine the hifi industry as it will completely change the way people consume music.

I m not sure what AI has to do with ARC but I am a strong believer that the way we consume music and film has already changed and its not going back. The ability of consumers to stream waht they want when they want it is a huge hit. I am a big fan of streaming music for so many reasons not the least of which is the ability to listen to music I would have never know about or been exposed to. To me the ultimate hi fi is a world class "jukebox" which is what I have and love it. Whether we want streaming and AI is another question but they are here and IMO they aren't going away.
As for the ARC , I have been a dealer and not a dealer for over 50 years. I was made a dealer by Bill Johnson and he and Nancy flew in his plane to my store on Long Island and delivered my initial order. That was the way Audio was done back then, companies actually came to see you business, checked your credit etc. This is not the facts today as we see that almost anyone can sell gear all you need is a checkbook.
IMO ARC is way behind delivering the flagship products that were the staple of their line. They were always a leading edge company, a company that made near or at the state of the art. Their top of the line products are very very long in the tooth.. The Ref 10 gear and the 750 are around a decade old. There are reasons that companies make flagships and ARC always had them.Go back through the history this was a company that always competed at that level. I have told them when asked and have told them again when we were considering becomeing a dealer again that that they needed these items. Trent is a friend, a long term friend and we had discussed this many times. I had discussed this with Alan Hagar as well, I do not know Mr. Acora and certainly can't speak for him but IMO without the REF 360 and the Replacement for the REF 10 products I think they will have a long difficult trip back. They have allowed other companies to take their spot on the mountain and its hard to change that now. I wish them luck but the brands like ARC, CJ, Krell, MLAS etc that were 70-90's stars have serious competion from Europe and the USA which they did not have in the past.

 

[Lee]

In my opinion, ARC tried to go “lifestyle” and abandoned their reference products, which, for example they are still selling Ref10 pre (2012) which was a slightly improved Ref40 anniversary (2010). Their 50 year anniversary came and went with no new product or marketing blitz to commemorate that milestone. Nice they have a new high power amp to debut but the preamps were a huge part of the brand’s cache. Some might say NOT introducing new models is good, but its been far too long since the Ref10 which I believe was originally @ $30k. Now is going to be $45k.

I greatly enjoyed my time with all the ARC kit I owned in the past and I wish them new success and longevity but I hope they narrow their focus, define their market, and introduce some real sonic improvements, not just a touch more this or that and a big sticker. It will be a challenge to re-acquire customers (who were loyal) but who moved on.

As to the meters.., they were fun to look at (160 models) but they were functionally irrelevant, at least the first 160Ms that I owned. The printed scale wasn’t calibrated to anything so nifty looking but really all for show.

Bob, this echoes a lot of the discussion I have had with Val. He is focused on the upper end of the market and on the affordable side asking for more money for things like the I/50.

 

[Lee]

I m not sure what AI has to do with ARC but I am a strong believer that the way we consume music and film has already changed and its not going back. The ability of consumers to stream waht they want when they want it is a huge hit. I am a big fan of streaming music for so many reasons not the least of which is the ability to listen to music I would have never know about or been exposed to. To me the ultimate hi fi is a world class "jukebox" which is what I have and love it. Whether we want streaming and AI is another question but they are here and IMO they aren't going away.
As for the ARC , I have been a dealer and not a dealer for over 50 years. I was made a dealer by Bill Johnson and he and Nancy flew in his plane to my store on Long Island and delivered my initial order. That was the way Audio was done back then, companies actually came to see you business, checked your credit etc. This is not the facts today as we see that almost anyone can sell gear all you need is a checkbook.
IMO ARC is way behind delivering the flagship products that were the staple of their line. They were always a leading edge company, a company that made near or at the state of the art. Their top of the line products are very very long in the tooth.. The Ref 10 gear and the 750 are around a decade old. There are reasons that companies make flagships and ARC always had them.Go back through the history this was a company that always competed at that level. I have told them when asked and have told them again when we were considering becomeing a dealer again that that they needed these items. Trent is a friend, a long term friend and we had discussed this many times. I had discussed this with Alan Hagar as well, I do not know Mr. Acora and certainly can't speak for him but IMO without the REF 360 and the Replacement for the REF 10 products I think they will have a long difficult trip back. They have allowed other companies to take their spot on the mountain and its hard to change that now. I wish them luck but the brands like ARC, CJ, Krell, MLAS etc that were 70-90's stars have serious competion from Europe and the USA which they did not have in the past.

All this history is true. Val very much wants to update the two-box preamps.

 

[Bobvin]

Bob, this echoes a lot of the discussion I have had with Val. He is focused on the upper end of the market and on the affordable side asking for more money for things like the I/50.

A big task — at 12 years old REF10 sound quality should have trickled down to i50, and a flagship needs to be a giant leap not a baby step forward. But that R&D should have been happening all along (I don’t have inside knowledge where R&D budgets had been focused.) Granted, real advancements don’t happen on a schedule sparks of genius only happen when they happen. I’d love to celebrate ARC rising from the ashes like the phoenix, representing an American comeback story. (Though I believe the new owner is a Canadian guy but I could be wrong.)

 

[Golum]

One thing I was discussing with my audio buddies is why Acora in the last few shows was presenting with VAC being the competitor to ARC which they own.
As a user or potential customer my thinking process would be - ARC is crap hence they demo with VAC.
And BTW I was a long and happy ARC owner with many of their amps and preamps...

 

[Golum]

As to the meters.., they were fun to look at (160 models) but they were functionally irrelevant, at least the first 160Ms that I owned. The printed scale wasn’t calibrated to anything so nifty looking but really all for show.

Legacy of the Italian ownership (nothing against Italy btw - quite contrary)

 

[Elliot G.]

One thing I was discussing with my audio buddies is why Acora in the last few shows was presenting with VAC being the competitor to ARC which they own.
As a user or potential customer my thinking process would be - ARC is crap hence they demo with VAC.
And BTW I was a long and happy ARC owner with many of their amps and preamps...

things that make you say HMMMMM?

 

[Golum]

Very much so!

 

[Ron Resnick]

One thing I was discussing with my audio buddies is why Acora in the last few shows was presenting with VAC being the competitor to ARC which they own.
As a user or potential customer my thinking process would be - ARC is crap hence they demo with VAC.

That would not be my thought at all. And it doesn't even make sense, because we know ARC is great, as opposed to crap.

In his interview with me Val was clear that he is not combining Acora with ARC, and that Acora remains amplification agnostic. I think he simply wants to keep the brands separate, as opposed to kind of dependent on each other, or as "joined at the hip" in the minds of consumers.

 

[Another Johnson]

IMO ARC is way behind delivering the flagship products that were the staple of their line. They were always a leading edge company, a company that made near or at the state of the art. Their top of the line products are very very long in the tooth.. The Ref 10 gear and the 750 are around a decade old. There are reasons that companies make flagships and ARC always had them.Go back through the history this was a company that always competed at that level. I have told them when asked and have told them again when we were considering becomeing a dealer again that that they needed these items. Trent is a friend, a long term friend and we had discussed this many times. I had discussed this with Alan Hagar as well, I do not know Mr. Acora and certainly can't speak for him but IMO without the REF 360 and the Replacement for the REF 10 products I think they will have a long difficult trip back. They have allowed other companies to take their spot on the mountain and its hard to change that now. I wish them luck but the brands like ARC, CJ, Krell, MLAS etc that were 70-90's stars have serious competion from Europe and the USA which they did not have in the past.

My sense is that they have not recovered from Ward Feibiger’s untimely death.

It is also my sense that if Mr. Cora wants to protect and grow his investment, ARC should be on a short leash, rather than be free to manage themselves. They’re all “good guys.” But right now ARC needs crackerjack R&D … and it’s not clearly there. And then there’s that tube supply issue gnawing away at the foundation.

 

[Golum]

That would not be my thought at all. And it doesn't even make sense, because we know ARC is great, as opposed to crap.

In his interview with me Val was clear that he is not combining Acora with ARC, and that Acora remains amplification agnostic. I think he simply wants to keep the brands separate, as opposed to kind of dependent on each other, or as "joined as the hip" in the minds of consumers.

With all due respect that is your PoV - with whom ever I talked it had the same thinking as i wrote above.
What Acora is doing is of course his business and marketing strategy, not necessarily be the right one (time will tell).

 

[Another Johnson]

That would not be my thought at all. And it doesn't even make sense, because we know ARC is great, as opposed to crap.

In his interview with me Val was clear that he is not combining Acora with ARC, and that Acora remains amplification agnostic. I think he simply wants to keep the brands separate, as opposed to kind of dependent on each other, or as "joined as the hip" in the minds of consumers.

I dunno … if I were speculating, I’d say he has some sort of side agreement with VAC. It makes no sense to present less than your best at a show unless you are constrained by something. If ARC drives the Acora speakers better than VAC, there would be no benefit to showing with VAC.

 

[Ron Resnick]

With all due respect that is your PoV - with whom ever I talked it had the same thinking as i wrote above.
What Acora is doing is of course his business and marketing strategy, not necessarily be the right one (time will tell).

Oh, yes, of course, that is merely my uninformed guess.

 

[2fastdriving]

One thing I was discussing with my audio buddies is why Acora in the last few shows was presenting with VAC being the competitor to ARC which they own.
As a user or potential customer my thinking process would be - ARC is crap hence they demo with VAC.
And BTW I was a long and happy ARC owner with many of their amps and preamps...

But he does demo with ARC quite often.

 

[Lee]

One thing I was discussing with my audio buddies is why Acora in the last few shows was presenting with VAC being the competitor to ARC which they own.
As a user or potential customer my thinking process would be - ARC is crap hence they demo with VAC.
And BTW I was a long and happy ARC owner with many of their amps and preamps...

I asked Val about this at the Tampa show. He says he runs Acora as a completely separate company. The dealer he is working with for shows is The Audio Company in Marietta not too far from my neighborhood. They are a VAC dealer and not an Audio Research dealer.

 

[Lee]

My sense is that they have not recovered from Ward Feibiger’s untimely death.

It is also my sense that if Mr. Cora wants to protect and grow his investment, ARC should be on a short leash, rather than be free to manage themselves. They’re all “good guys.” But right now ARC needs crackerjack R&D … and it’s not clearly there. And then there’s that tube supply issue gnawing away at the foundation.

A few thoughts...
1. Ward's death was tragic but ARC has hired two new engineers and I'm told high quality ones.
2. The tube issue has largely gone away and Western Electric will soon be producing some 12AX7 and other tubes at their Rossville, Georgia factory.
3. Val is heavily involved in managing Audio Research. His money is on the line.

 

[WillBthr]

Thank you Lee and Ron for your first-hand factual information ie. Val.
I was beginning to think maybe the audio buddies were correct...ARC is crap.
I'll cancel all my ARC For Sale ads now.

One other thing about ARC and digital: They've been manufacturing DACs and CD players since 1991 and 1995 respectively. Having owned a few of the (CD1 & CD2 & DAC3 & DAC3MkII) I found them reliable and sonically excellent in my system(s).
I would add that their REF CD9SE (CD & DAC) sound quality is in a league of its own. Natural. Too bad Philips stopped making the transport.