Kalvin Dahl
 

Just sent an email to longtime customer service lead Kalvin Dahl and got a message back that he is no longer with ARC. Anybody know anything more? He was fantastic to work with from my experience.
Best
Adam

I agree that Kalvin was a great resource for the ARC customer and a pleasure to deal with. My dealer noted that he was near, at or beyond retirement age but he did not know the exact reason why Kalvin was no longer with ARC. I'd like to know as well.

I spoke with Kalvin at ARC many times and he was both extraordinarily knowledgeable and helpful. He could answer almost any question. He will be missed.

Best,
Ken

Kalvin has been gone since around October. ARC has a new customer service protocol/system in place that is like a request-response system using e-mail forms. Though a bit less personal, service, imo, remains excellent.

Hi Tima:
Do you know the reason why Kal is no longer there?

Kalvin quit on a Friday, He was unhappy with the new system and all the extra work it entailed. That Monday I called the service department to order a part. The person answering the phone was less than competent. I don't think he could tie his shoes on his own. He told me I had to send an email for parts. For the next week the service did not answer the phone or emails. Then I finally got a reply to my email a week and a half later. I have to order parts through my dealer. That was what the email said. I never had to do this before. I have been ordering parts and dealing with Audio Research for the last 30 years.

Long gone are the days when Leonard was head of the service department and the service was truly excellent. Don't get me wrong, Kalvin was very good. But it has been a slow and steady decline. Try ordering a part for an older piece. They most likely won't have it.

Audio Research use to be like a family. If you owned a piece you were a member of the family. It did not matter if you bought it new or used. They did everything they could to keep every piece working and sounding as good as when it was new.

Sad to say my recent experience is similar to Lost Bears. In the past I could always get technical help and information on the phone. A few weeks ago I phoned Audio Research service to inquire about replacement tubes for my Reference 5SE. The guy I spoke to did not seem to know anything technical about the unit and ultimately told me he could not take an order over the phone. It has to be done via an e-mail request and they will respond with a special ordering Web page. So, I sent them an e-mail, telling me what I wanted, but got a response from somebody else who did not seem to understand what I wanted. After two more e-mail exchanges where I never got all the information I wanted, I gave up and ordered the tubes elsewhere (Upscale Audio).

Ugh, very troubling to hear.

That's too bad, Kalvin is a great guy. I have to order a set of KT150s so hopefully process is fix soon.

I buy my tubes from Jim McShane. Great guy to deal with. He burns them in a bit before matching like ARC does. I just replaced the KT 120s in m Ref 110. The matching was dead on. Very little drift. I have not had to adjust the bias since my first check.