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.
