Talk:Audio Research

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I think McIntosh is the oldest American hi-fi maker still extant.. formed in the 50's.

I'd mention Marantz and Fisher, but those two have no operations left here in the US, and their product has been of variable quality since the dawn of the solid-state era (mid-60's.)

McIntosh still makes their stuff in the US, as does Audio Research. Both are still insanely expen$ive, with quality to match.

Audio Research Corporation was formed in 1970, iirc.

Not quite encyclopedia material but wtf.. ARC stuff tends to have very un-conventional design, with very beefy and well-regulated powersupplies, use of un-conventional phase-splitters (van syock / cross-coupled, more complex and expensive than the more common cathodyne splitter as used by hafler/dynaco but delivering a fully symmetrical signal to the output pair). ARC also prides themselves in keeping a stash of parts for their stuff, no matter when built. Their support staff alone is worth the price of admission.

I have two older ARC tube pieces (a pre and a power amp), and the build (and sound) is stunning. Built by engineers for engineers, I don't think it's very user-friendly as regards maintenance, unless the user is an out-and-out geek =o)

Okkay, i'll shutup now.. starting to sound like the rantings of a fanboi.

Tigerplish 23:09, 25 April 2007 (UTC)