Audio Research Has Been Sold

Don C said:
I've had a few pieces of ARC gear through my system, very enjoyable, though nothing at the moment.

I always thought the "Fine Sounds Group" McIntosh combo with ARC was oddly incongruent. I'm hopeful this news is good for ARC and the industry in general. I can't help but agree with the above comments that ARC was particularly good at a thing and they should continue to be good at that thing. But I also acknowledge that their newer offerings are very interesting (GS series comes to mind), and wonder if that would have happened without the corporate family influence, even if only for a limited time?

Anyway, I'm optimistic that it's a turn for the better and wish them the very best!
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Don C,

FWIW, ... the GS series was a flash in the pants. Lots of industrial art work, but not a lot of substance. And, FWIW, I believe that the GS series has been dropped from ARC's product line. The GS 150 was basically a "souped" up Ref 150 SE with gingerbread. The innards and specs of the GS 150 were basically identical with the Ref 150 SE, with the exception that the price tag was many thousands of bucks higher.

I hope ARC's new owner will return to the "boring" days (sic) when performance counted more than glitz and glitter. Just for kicks and giggles, I read a review of the GS 150 and noted that the author said that the GS 150 was much better sounding than the Ref 150. It probably DID sound better. Reason: the Ref 150 was upgraded to an SE version which included many part changes and a switch to KT-150 tubes. How do I know? Because I used to own the Ref 150 and had ARC upgrade my Ref 150 to the SE version. And yes, ... the SE version sounds MUCH better than the prior version. So, ... for many grand more, the GS 150 was basically a Ref 150 SE on a flashier chassis.

Very happy that ARC old-heads are taking back the reins. I hope they re-embrace Bill Johnson's vision and re-focus their efforts to designing and building quality products and giving great customer service. I'll take that anytime over glitzed up products that are basically old wine in new bottles.

BIF
 
Unpopular opinion: ARC sounded better under Fine Sounds than Bill Johnson’s last 20 years. Actually sounds tubed.
 
mep said:
Examples?
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Remember the old VT100, Ref 110, Ref 600s, etc? Those amps were whitish, SS-style tubes. I'll also add the LS25 preamp line which couldn't be more desicate if they tried. I've heard the Ref2mk2 a number of times as well and nothing great there - although apparently the gem was the Ref 1 back in the mid-90s which I always wanted to try. There are a number of owners who refused to trade up. Don't forget ARCs attempt at honest SS and digital amps - bunch of door stops now.

The Ref 75 and subsequent amps have easily surpassed what ARC did in the 90s/00s. Back then, I'd rather just own SS and experience none of the difficulties with owning ARC tube amps (that also had the worst biasing experience known in the business).

So yeah, Bill Johnson took the SS turn in the 80s and didn't look back, which was too bad.
 
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