REF 5 and REF Phono 2 SE upgrades.
 

These upgrades were initially offered in January and every time I inquire they mention having parts availability issues and extend the timeframe to get these done. I'm confused. Does it make sense that they have everything for the REF 5 SE but do not for the upgrades? Has anyone gotten an upgrade from ARC? Thanks for any input kinda frustrated.

Have you contacted ARC? Isn't there a list?

Yes,

About every 60 days or so. Kalvin is polite but always says the same thing no parts. ARC is well regarded for having every part for every unit they've ever made. I find the sourcing reason strange. I know high class problems. I must endure my amazing REF 5 until the upgrades begin.

There was a similar question in another thread and similar reply given after a phone call to ARC. My guess is parts for new units have priority over upgrades as you would expect them to and if new sales are soaking up the majority of parts availability and upgrade orders are building at a fast clip, then the backorder line for the upgrades will keep getting extended. Conjecture on my part but this could be the scenario playing out at the moment.

A similar situation happened with some upgrades at conrad johnson sometime ago - they did not have a supply of teflon capacitors enough to carry all the upgrades immediately after the release of the new units, as the main priority was wisely the assembly of new units.

Looks like things are looking up. Just heard parts will be arriving mid Oct. I'm sure from everything I'm hearing it will be worth the upgrade and wait. I was more concerned that for some reason they would kill the upgrade program altogether .

FWIW, most businesses work that way when parts are hard to source - new product shipments get priority, mostly because there's a lot more money to be made.

It serves companies well if they don't have a lot of margin on upgrades since it's a customer relations move to offer the upgrades in the first place.

I live in the UK and there is not even a hint of an upgrade from the distributor here yet.

Agreed.

Looking forward to getting mine done, but in no rush.

Happy to see ARC so busy.

From what I've heard, the company that makes the Teflon caps for AR got bought by another company and are in transition. So the caps are in short supply. Should be ironed out fairly shortly. I bought a REF 2 SE a couple of months ago and it is amazing. From what I've heard the upgrade is well worth it.

My Ref 2 SE is clearly an incredible piece and so the wait will be well worth it to upgraders.

Update :

ARC does not have parts as told by Oct 15. No word on if or when . Regardless of the reasons I find this unacceptable .

Yes, it can be disappointing. However, patience can be rewarding. The Ref 5SE is a fantastic unit.

I'm sure the folks at ARC will sort the supply issue.

Mike

I am sure there is an issue somewhere in their supply chain that is completely out of their control. If one supplier is late or unable to produce enough of a certain piece it throws everything off. ARC is part of large fairly large group that I am sure has a good logistics department. You know they want to get enough parts to satisfy demand for new Ref 5SEs and upgrades. I have heard demand for Ref 5SE is very high, this is a good problem to have, however, I suspect that lead time on parts to build more is 90 to 120 days. It does take a long time to catch up and if demand for new units is high it only makes sense to use all available parts to make new pre-amps rather than use them to upgrade existing units. Once parts are available I am sure they will work hard to catch up on upgrades.

I work with products that have a complicated supply chain and it is getting tougher due to higher cost of raw materials and long lead times. Delays are frustrating, but almost always out of our control. I spend a lot of my day scrambling to get enough product due to supply chain delays.

I am also looking forward to getting my Ref5 upgraded, but I am suffering quite happily with my regular Ref 5.