Has anybody heard the new Audio Research LS 27?

Bottom line kind of a Cavaet Emptor, buyer "be aware" as some past ARC customers here have become. I hear you Knghifi and agree. This isn't to say that at some point in the future I wouldn't purchase a new ARC product if I felt it offered what I was looking for at a price I could afford to pay. But I think you hit the nail on the head with

"It's YOUR purchasing decision. There is NO penalty in NOT making the purchase unless they nationalized the audio industry like health care"

except the health care part. Some things really grate on us heh? But this isn't about health care it is about audio so maybe we should keep things on point and not get off track with such polarizing subjects interjected in this discussion with no clear point. It seems we're having a difficult time enough with this simple little issue of a small company and their marketing practices.

An example of a company staying in business by meeting a pre-existing market demand - airlines. Say I want to go to Europe from the U.S., several airline companies are there to meet my need. Essentially airlines replaced cruise ships and at some point in the future some new travel innovation could replace airlines, but until that new method of travel arrives airline company can offer the same old same old.

Knghifi, if I read you correctly you actually agree with some of our description of ARC's business model. It's just that you see in purely in a positive light.

Market differentiation is an interesting phenomena. How does a company draw attention to its products in a marketplace where everything is essentially the same. In the audiophile world we pay an enormous amount of attention to what are in fact very small differences. For instance, if a Ref 5 is a major improvement over a Ref 3, then how does a Ref 5 compare to an SP6? Given the large number of models the have come and gone between the SP6 and the Ref 5 we would need to invent a new word to describe the more than super, unbelievable, hard to imagine sonic improvements of the newer model. But even ARC admits that with a few upgraded parts the SP6 can sound substantially like their current preamp offerings. If that's the case, then the difference between the Ref 3 and the Ref 5 really is very, very small. Whether or not that very, very small difference is worthwhile or valued is a separate question.

High end audio is largely about people pursuing diminishing returns with ever increasing expenditures. ARC 's business model is among the least cynical in this regard when you consider that one can purchase a set of speaker cables that well exceed the cost of a Ref 5, only to have them replaced shortly by another "sonically superior" version costing even more.
It is a hobby after all and one is free to not pay and not play.

Lets all keep in mind that we are talking about a company that is highly respected for both its products and customer relations.We're throwing stones at the top of the heap.
If you want to criticize a company for poor business practices,I think ARC is the last place we should start.

Tubegroover, your right ARC resale is among the best in the industry,I just think that some people must be feeling cheated because ARC keeps improving their product line.
To me that criticism makes no sense.