Another Industry reshuffling...

Yea, ARC sucks.  I don't think some of you on here are serious. I heard this.  I heard that.  Anyone here  commenting own ARC gear?

Ok, so this finally makes sense. I could never understand how Acora, which has to be a pretty niche company, had the wherewithal to purchase Audio Research. So it now appears to transpire that the effective purchaser of the AR was Crystal International which is a packaging and cosmetics company - Crystal Intl and Crystal Claire. On paper, Acora may have been the purchaser, but it was probably with equity from Crystal. Business 101: unrelated diversifications are usually a bad idea. The Masimo acquisition of Sounds United (B&W/Classe) is a good case in point in the Hi Fi industry.

They occupy a small end of the market. Few people will be buying $10K preamps or $20K power amps. Reference models are halo products. Their lower range models have become too expensive. The i/70 at $10K is just too expensive for what it is. The i/50 could be more competitively priced, or at least the modules could be less expensive. (FWIW, I have one and think it is an excellent amplifier.) In the price range they occupy, VAC offers similar spec. And of issue of resale, between ARC and McIntosh, McIntosh wins all day long. 

+1 @hotei 

OK, I'll bite.

Yes, I own and ARC Ref6SE preamp, and it is a great piece (MSRP $22,500).  In fact, it is an audiophile legacy piece - one of the best preamps in recent times.  

That being said, yes ARC's new flagship gear is expensive.  

Yet, I find many AG-ers a bit hypocritical when they support "It's their money, they can spend it on what they want" themes if/when the discussion involves $750,000 Wilson speakers, $250,000 turntables, $165,00 D'Agostino preamp ( @yesiam_a_pirate ), $20,000 Koetsu cartridges, or $20,000 AQ Dragon XLR cables (2m)... then diss ARC. 

Really?

Maybe huge banks of tubes to power average-to-lower efficiency speakers are no longer as popular and acceptable as before. Seems high quality tube availability might be more limited and prices are significantly higher than before. Also, there is also sonic improvements in modern SS amps.

Personally, I’m not a fan of large banks of tubes or running so hot like space heaters.

Acora speakers has a lot of competition including the more recent Estelon speakers whose sound and form I favor more.