Upgrading cd player

Audio Research has had a lot of financial problems the past year. Things might be better now, and I wish them the best,  but if the choice was between them and McIntosh, a company that has been around for about 90 years and has as much broad support from the general public as a high end company will ever achieve, I’d opt for the Mac

@mahler123  But u are really talking about finances. And I un what u are saying. Just about all of my equipment is ARC. Ref 750s. Ref 6SE. I did purchase on Thursday the new McIntosh MQ112 equalizer which is a very nice addition to my ARC. But as far a ARC is concerned I believe that their financials are behind them. 

I wouldn’t be that sanguine about ARC finances going forward, but hey it your money.  You already had voiced a concern in your OP about parts availability for ARC, which led me to believe that long term servicing issues were a concern to you.

I think u have or we have a miscommunication. Arc parts are available with Arc themselves. It’s the Phillips laser that I believe Philips is not maki g them no more. That’s why Arc stopped making the CD9se. Now I’m not 💯 but it’s what I thought I read. But if they did stop making the laser ( Phillips ) then yea I would definitely reconsider the Arc ref 9se CDP. I was hoping someone had some first hand experience in those 2 models the Arc and MC. Which one is the better unit. 

Audio Research was purchased a few years ago in a highly leveraged deal by a private investor. Increased interest rates caused him to have to sell the business. It was sold to a deep pockets committed company that is already into high end audio. ARC is not in jeopardy of going out of business. They maintain the same dedication to producing new products and servicing old ones as they always have. Which is why they have a stockroom full of parts to service former products.

I highly recommend the ARC Ref CD9SE if you can find one. It is the best CD player / DAC that I have heard. It bested the $22K Berkeley Alpha DAC in my system and a number of others. It brings the rhythm a pace and midrange bloom of real music, as well as the detail and realism.. Through the player I can get the exact same fidelity by CD player and through streaming of the same recording. Frequently, I can get better quality through high def files streamed through Qobuz since I have an exceptional streamer..