ARC Ref 5se inferior to LS28?

For the consumer able to buy a REF 6 or 10 new, value may not be a concern! For the buyer of a cost-no-object, advancing-the-State-Of-The-Art product, future developments will be dealt with when they appear, the possibility of a new, even-higher level product that makes obsolete their current model to be expected at that elevation. By obsolete, I don’t mean no longer as good sounding as it had been, but rather that no further improvements to it will be offered, all further R & D being put into the new model that replaces it. More like a "dead" product than an obsolete one. As testpilot said, long-term ARC consumers know this to be ARC’s modus operandi. I wonder how many REF pre-amps ARC sells in a model run?

In 7 months, 300 REF 6 were sold.  300 x $12000 = $3,600,000

sales from 12/2015 to7/2016

There are not a few people that will buy something that costs 50K who would not touch exact same  item were it priced at 25K .

There are not a few people that will buy something that costs 50K who would not touch exact same item were it priced at 25K .

Very true. There are a LOT of folks out there with FU money.

VAC’s top of the line products were less than $20K each until they released the Statement line a couple years ago, now each chassis will cost you $50K a pop.
And guess what? Folks are lining up and offering to pay more $$$ to have their VAC Statements made in custom colors. Go figure.

VAC is not alone, look at ARC’s Anniversary and Ref 10.
Just about every single manufacturer has a top of the line item today that is at least 2-3 times the price of their top of the line 8-10 years ago.

The audio industry is simply a reflection of the global economy. The rich keep getting richer, and the poor poorer. The industry is just chasing the money, by giving their clients what they want.

So true, Schubert and JMC. Brooks Berdan had customers who bought Jadis or VTL pre's and amps instead of the Music Reference he also sold, and Wilsons instead of Vandersteens. At one CES in the late 90's, while eating steak and drinking wine (Vandersteen likes his meat and spirits), Richard told us of dealers who encouraged him to raise his prices, so that his speakers would be perceived as a more prestigious brand. Instead, he designed the higher priced but also higher performing models 5 an 7. The man has integrity.