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Originally Posted by Whart
Is this the first 'statement' piece conceived after WZJ's death? I know car analogies are a stretch sometimes, but the F-40 was the last 'statement' car designed under Enzo's mantle; the F-50 was done after Enzo died. It was ultra modern, weird electronic dash, sort of unloved. It has, over the years, slowly gained a following but the F-40 is still regarded as a classic (and even that wasn't a traditional 12 cyl car).
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WZJ retired in 2008, when he became Chairman Emeritus, so it is likely that he did not have any involvement in the latest generation of ARC products, including the Reference Anniversary.
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I think the piece looks like the Soulution stuff, a bit. I don't really care for fancy displays or gizmos, I care only how it sounds. If it sounds better than the Ref Anniversary, great. And if you can turn the display off once you've done whatever you have to do, even better.
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I cannot say that I dislike the look, although it is certainly a much more contemporary look than typical for ARC, but I fully agree that at the end sound is all that matters and that the touch screen and adjustable input gain offsets do not add much in terms of appeal. From the manual posted above it does seem that the display can be set to automatically shut off after 8 seconds, like the one on the Anniversary.