Audio Research discontinuing lower lines components?


I have looked at several components in Audio Research's line and they are discontinuing the LS17-se, PH8, and PH6.  They discontinued the DAC 8.  I know there is a new Ref 6 to replace the Ref 5se and their is a new Ref Phono 3 to replace the Ref Phone 2se coming out.  I talked to my dealer and he stated that Audio Research seems to be making their components look more McIntosh like in the Galeo series. 

The dealer stated their isn't going to be anything that he has heard that will replace the other lines at this point and that AR will be starting at the LS-27, which is $7500 for preamps.  The Ref 75se is the beginning of the line for Amps, which I know, but man are they going the Mac route with prices, nothing to replace the DAC 8 and the other DAC in the line is $11,000, what's up with this, have you guys heard anything more. 

The starting point for AR equipment is getting pretty high and the only way a newer person without means will be able to afford it will be to buy use, which could send the used prices up if there isn't anything else in the line.  What do you guys think and what have you heard?
sid1
Wow! Look at all the removed posts! My last post was deleted!

Heavy moderation here, must be someone throwing some money Audiogon's way to make things look as they wish.

oregonpapa, you had any of your posts deleted? I doubt it.
Maybe ARC is on the case. Time to make this thread disappear.
HiFi products in general are a luxury, and ARC is more of a luxury brand now than ever before, even though their MN headquarters and plant reside in a light-industry business park of single story buildings with modest office fronts. I have been to their parts desk/freight door and have seen the dozens of their white boxes with blue lettering waiting to go out.  Their prices are not high due to inflation--there hasn't been any in years--but to the ever-shrinking middle class that is surviving not on pay raises, but on borrowing. Housing, food and clothing prices have gone up and up, with salaries and wages staying flat--for decades.  There is a much smaller segment of America that can go out and buy a luxury item, so WOM/ARC is going to target an upper-income, international market.  There's a lot of money out there, but in the hands of fewer people.  This should not be a surprise, unless you get your news from the channel that will accuse you of having class envy.     

"No changes from the basic circuit design from years past"

I guess that is why my audio technician says he doesn't understand why people buy new ARC gear. He claims the older equipment is better than what they are making now.

I would not be surprised if ARC lost a fortune in the past year due mainly to the total confusion generated by the introduction of the GS series to "sit alongside" or below the Reference series. Sometimes they even sit above the Ref series---like the GS 150. I for one, have decided not purchase any item of ARC gear until it shakes out. For example, how can ARC sell a new Ref 250se to an educated buyer if the buyer thinks they may come out with 300 wpc GS monoblocks in the next year or 2 that may be better, more powerful and fit in with a new GS look that will be standard across the board for all ARC products very soon. Don’t these foreign buyers (the money part of old and new Fine Sounds) have any business sense? Do they really think a retro design alone will quickly capture enough young "lifestyle" buyers and/or Asian buyers to offset the temporary or possibly permanent loss of the core U.S. and western European ARC buyer? Do they think they will capture the young "lifestyle" buyer with lots of $ by introducing him to the brand through a townhouse in a cool city--when in fact that new buyer is not so much into sound as the image of quality, say perhaps the higher end McIntosh gear with their cool faceplates.
WOM should have been and should be more forthcoming about a clear goal of the GS series. If they wanted to introduce a new look, they should have announced its clear place in the ARC hierarchy and come out with the new line across the board---all within 1 year. That way they would not have holdouts like me who would have purchased last year or this year, but are afraid to. I feel bad for Dave Gordon and the ARC team. These bean counters have foolishly and needlessly put them in a bind. They push ARC to sell, but handcuff them with incredibly self-defeating business plans. Maybe someone inside WOM will get it and formulate a clear and profitable business plan which takes into account ARC’s niche in the marketplace. Maybe someone will come in and purchase ARC, straighten out the mess and make some money in the long run. But for now I, and I am sure others, are lost and in a holding pattern
ARC devotees love the great engineering that comes out of Plymouth which usually results in great sounding products at a fair price. We do not care for more and more expensive cutting edge advertising and we don’t want to pay for townhouses across the world that are set up mainly for the bling of McIntosh faceplates. ARC will never sell nearly as much as Mac that way. (Mac is now, in addition to being the hoped for domain of the rich "in" crowd at the townhouse, being sold at Magnolia stores in Best Buys ---say what?--another brilliant idea).
WOM should stop pushing ARC to sell to a crowd that will never be interested. ARC will always sell enough to music lovers young and old who appreciate great sounding gear and don’t mind that it is not a "lifestyle" product and indeed requires some effort if and when a tube fails.
ok---I’m done.