Has anyone heard that ARC discontinued the Ref CD-9SE?

Agreed-
New CD and SACDs are being pressed. There is the used market as well.

Happy Listening!

jab

Good to see you.   Happy Listening!

Jab, ... ARC could have fixed my CD-8 if I sprang for a replacement transport, which I recall they had in stock at the time.  However, the repair/replace cost was in excess of the value of the CD-8. 

I was able to pick up an almost new CD-9SE for a reasonable price, which made more sense than repairing a 12 year plus old CD player.  If I get 10+ years out of the CD-9SE, it will be worth the investment, especially since it has DAC capabilities which the CD-8 did not have.

That said, Jab you are right.  If the transport in my CD-9SE goes, I may be out of luck big time.  Hopefully, I'll have a good run with the CD-9SE.  But all mechanical devices are subject to wear over time, ... even the Phillips Pro 2 transport.           

OP,

The ARC CD9se is a spectacularly good DAC. I recently had my audio guy drop off a Berkeley Alpha 3 DAC for me to compare with my ARC CD9se. I was able to balance the loudness and switch between them. I had it for a couple weeks. The difference was microscopic... with the ARC sounding ever so slightly better (ARC ever so slightly warmer in the midrange and bass.... more listenable, the Berkeley a tiny bit more detailed). The Berkeley is a $22K DAC know to be one of the best currently on the market. Obviously I was comparing music streams. I have 2,000 CDs but can’t think of a reason to play them. They are more inconvenient and frequently of lower resolution than what I get through streaming. So even if I own the CD, I will stream it. .

For the price of one CD per month you get access to a nearly infinite ♾ amount of music through Qobuz or Tidal, much of it are higher resolution than red book. So, the time to switch has come. I dabbled for years and now that I own a good streamer there is no going back.