$510.00 for an Aluminum cover for the ARC Ref. 10?

11-09-15 Why have a cover at all? most of the rf is generated by ics ... Geoffkait

11-09-15: Cleeds
"11-09-15: Geoffkait
... why have a cover at all?"

One good reason is because the electric current inside of a tube amp or preamp is potentially deadly, often for quite a while even after AC power is turned off.

Just use a plexiglass cover. Works great.

Will ARC give me a $510 price reduction if I buy a Ref 10 without a top cover?

"11-09-15: Brf
Will ARC give me a $510 price reduction if I buy a Ref 10 without a top cover?"

Why don't you ask your dealer?
There seems to be no problem with the acrylic cover when the unit has sufficient ventilation, btw.

Hey, I didn't say it about D'Agostino's amp, Roger did! But as Roger pointed out, so did John Atkinson, in his comments on the results of his bench tests of the amp. Between the lines of course, as Roger also pointed out. For anyone wanting to read an evaluation of the amp's design from a circuit design expert's perspective (recommended for anyone contemplating it's purchase), it should be easily found on the Music Reference Audiocircle Forum.

As for Roger's credentials versus, in this case, Dan D-Agostino's, it reminds me of when back in the 70's Frank Van Alstine had the nerve to offer a mod for the Audio Research SP-3. Why, the SP-3 was designed by Bill Johnson, the best designer in High End! Who does Frank Van Alstine think he is? He doesn't even make his own products, just modifies those of others. Frank claimed his mod corrected a number of faults in the SP-3 (inaccurate RIAA equalization, insufficient gain at low frequencies, circuit instability, etc.). And guess what---it did, as Harry Pearson wrote in TAS. After that, every owner of an SP-3 wanted the Van Alstine SP-3 mod. The fact alone that Dan D'Agostino has a higher profile than Roger Modjeski---does that invalidate Roger's evaluation of Dan's amp?

Just so you'll know, Roger Modjeski is not one of those guys who finds fault with everyone else's designs. He thinks highly of Mike Sanders (Quicksilver), Tim DeParavicini (EAR), and Ralph Karsten (Atma-Sphere), amongst other current designers.

Brooks Berdan, the most critical listener I've ever know, sold only products he liked, business be damned. What he liked in tubed electronics were VTL, Jadis, and Music Reference. Period. In solid state he found little to like, but loved the amp of Richard Brown, the BEL. Like Roger, Richard had an underground cult reputation for his design abilities. Talk about a low profile! Brooks couldn't keep the amp in stock---every time he demoed his, the listener bought it! It would take months to get another, as Richard built them on his kitchen table, one at a time. Does the fact that Brown Electronics Company had few dealers, were never reviewed or talked about on Hi-Fi sites, and are owned by almost no one, mean that Richard's opinion of an amp's design would not be not worthy of consideration? Or that his qualifications to even have one are in question? If so, I suggest no one ask Jeff Beck to evaluate the playing of, say, Eddie Van Halen. A bad analogy perhaps, but you get the point.