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


I just noted that a dealer member is offering an ARC CD-9SE for sale.  The ad mentioned that ARC discontinued the CD-9SE.  Has anyone else heard the same?  

Kinda' interesting since ARC released the SE version of CD-9 sometime in 2019.  Just guessing here, ... but it may have something to do with Phillips having discontinued manufacturing the Pro 2 CD transport.  Or perhaps, ARC may think that the CD media is passe and they squeezed as much juice from that media source as they could.

If so, ...onward to streaming.      

Thoughts??
bifwynne
bifwynneI am shocked as well. The CD9 has been out for several years. For ARC to choose not stocking those drives/optical blocks is criminal. Especially, to the faithful customers and price-point of spinner.
Happy Listening!


I am not sure that ARC has not stocked up a bunch of drives for warrantee work. Manufacturers call for last buys from customers. Any reputable companies will stock up for many years of repairs. I believe they only discontinued selling new CD9se and the less expensive one.
Jafant and ghdprentice .... I do not know if ARC has spares for repair.  I hope they do because the transport is a mechanical device and it will wear out in time. 

I used to own the Ref CD-8, which also uses the Pro 2 transport.  Last year, the transport started to develop glitches; I heard some CDs scrap something in the transport.  ARC lifted the spindle by using shams, but it didn't work.  After 2 tries, I gave up and picked up a CD-9SE. 

The CD-9SE works well and I hope it gives me at least 10 years of trouble free service.  Ironically, it may be that redbook CD media  goes the way of the DoDo bird.  Hence, it may not matter all that much if my CD player wears out in 10 years if there are no CDs to spin.

I may have to break down and get into the world of streaming music.  Unfortunately, I am not familiar with the technology and the lingo, so I have resisted making the move.  

I have an open question for the Forum:  is anybody pressing new CDs or are we just buying and trading old stock? 

BIF