It is well known that Mr. Cora (or, as Caesar refers to him “the stone speaker dude) has been an ARC aficionado. The Ref 750 se has been part of his personal collection.
If anyone has an interest in advancing ARC’s performance, it is he.
If the tube boat rights itself before the end of my need, I will reconsider. To my ears the current ARC reference lineup is best tube gear available. And compared to other sonic peers, ARC is value priced.
I don't doubt your claim that the new guy cares. (Although I think that the Ref 750 SUCKS!! , as it can't drive neither wilsons nor Sinus fibers with Beitzim, instead producing a warm, fuzzy, hi-fi drek sound. Doesn't give me confidence in the new guy's taste. And many dealers carry arc and solid state competitors, and obviously people are choosing solid state as arc went bankrupt.)
Yet I don't think many folks want Arc to fail. Although, in reality, many guys in this hobby could care less - one way or another. Kind of like, how many people care that RCA no longer makes TVs? Or you can't buy toys at Toys R Us?
But other than nostalgia, what is special or unique about Arc?
Take Lamm for example. Vladimir Lamm was a genius whose designs can conjure up humanity out of the most hifi drek, sterile speakers. And when his lower powered amps are mated with proper speakers, it's goosebump and chills inducing realism!
And take CAT as another example, when Wolf was showing off his new S3 speaker at last Axpona, he chose CAT for its natural presentation and "drive anything" design.
I know the CH precision and pillium people were crying like a 4 year old who had to put her bunny away, but the Wolfster wasn't taking any chances with the S3 coming across sterile with those brands in its debut!!!
So can anyone answer what is unique about arc these days? How is ARc different than, say RCA, kodak, or blockbuster?