Why Are There So Many Audio Research Reference 5SE's For Sale

Sorry to the OP, but the answer seems pretty obvious. ARC is one of the biggest High End suppliers, ergo, 1000's of amps around. They have just introduced a Ref 6, thus many will be upgrading. Conclusion, many 5SE's will be coming on the market.

As an aside, I would not get on that particular upgrade treadmill. ARC bring out new models frequently and yes I am sure each new unit may be better than the one it replaces, but it becomes a very expensive process over the years. It's certainly to rich for me.

As a related point, may I ask of others agree that ARC power Amps are a better deal than the Pre's. You can't generalise I know, but that has been my impression over the years. I use an ARC Ref 75SE and I think it is a real bargain at the price. It's hard to think of another company that can clearly better it.

 The comparably priced Ref 3?  Yes it's very good, but I thought the cheaper Modwright 36.5 was a little better and bought it. I have heard the Ref 5SE with my power amp and again it is very good, but it was a lot more expensive than the 75 and the new Ref 6 is a good deal more still.

 I am sure most people won't agree with me, but I thought I'd throw the thought in the ring and see what happened.

knghifi, well quite, I'm not criticising people who do upgrade, just point out it can be an expensive business and it's to costly for me..

 I have nothing but admiration for ARCs business acumen and I don't think three years between models is a long time. If users are persuaded the upgrade is worth it, so be it. I would be interested to know how much of their income is based on SE upgrades, which I recently did with my REF 75, and users working there way to the latest model, as against first time buyers