Don_c55 ... this is my last post on this thread. Did it occur to you that Hifigeek1 is not a "one trick pony"?? That is, maybe he services many other brands and may also have other commerical interests going on as well. If you're so interested, why not ask him. Frankly, I don't think it's any of your business.
Further, as is the case with most gear, part failure occurs -- period .... The older the equipment, the more frequent the failure rate. There is a lot of serviceable ARC gear that is decades old doing what it was originally designed to do; to wit, make beautiful music. Caps dry out and need replacing. Switches wear out. Bias resisters burn. And so forth and so on.
Gary (Hifigeek1) is a long standing and respected A'gon member. ARC is a fine company. Look at my system description. Except for an occassional pesky burned biased resister in my amp -- NEVER had a problem with equipment reliability!! And ... IMHO, I am blessed to own a killer rig that is powered by ARC gear.
Don ... let this one go. You've stated your opinion. We all got it. I have no intention of trying to change your mind. I have no dog in this fight. My only point is to put out there that I *AM* A HAPPY ARC customer and I believe that there are many others.
Have a nice day. :)