ARC LS17SE Price

[Quin]

Has gone up in price $1500 from $4000 to $5500 in less than two years. Any ideas why?

[Formerly YB-2]

New owners (same that own McIntosh, Sonus Faber, etc.) want improved margins/profits would be a reasonable guess.

[jdandy]

Quin....... Perhaps the cost of raw materials, parts, labor, overhead, marketing, shipping, insurance, healthcare, and wholesale and retail profit margins have all risen. The state of the economy has taken a toll on many aspects of manufacturing of all commodities and discretionary items. It all hits the bottom line eventually.

[Quin]

Possibly but haven't seen their other pieces increase so much percentage wise in the same period. Could be that the SE designation boosted the performance to the point they believed it justified the price increase. Just guessing.

[cmalak]

Quin...I believe you are comparing apples and oranges. The LS17 was $4K and the LS17Se is $5500. The difference is due to better parts usage (new Teflon coupling caps which are more expensive, as well as a larger transformer plus other circuit enhancements). You are paying a premium for the SE upgrade (which was similarly applied to the Ref 5 and Ref Phono 2 and which were based on trickle-down learnings from the Ref 40 Anniversary edition, where the enhanced preamp circuit designs and use of the Teflon caps began for ARC).

[Quin]

No - the SE version remained at $4000 retail- I know, I bought one in May 2012. But it has gone up to $5500 since then. Curious as I thought ARC may have made additional changes to the unit that would drive up the price. Or just figured out they should be charging more for it.

[Picto]

I bought a new ARC LS17SE to replace my previous LS17 in March 2012. At the time, the price remained unchanged between the two versions of the LS17. In fact, it was a bit surprising to get a kind of “free” upgrade from the manufacturer, as my dealer mentioned it to me.

The two main upgrades were the new Teflon coupling caps and the new faceplate with its metal round buttons. As far as I know, there was no larger transformer at this time and ARC’s website is still not clear on that point.

Here is a view from the inside of the LS17SE with the new white Teflon coupling caps and its transformer.



Bertrand

[Quin]

Agreed- originally offered the LS17SE at $4000. Has anyone had a chance to compare the LS17SE with the L27? Closer in price now- $5500 vs. $7500. Is the difference now between the two the additional features of the LS27 or is there a substantial upgrade in sound?

[cmalak]

I stand corrected. Good question to pose to ARC. I would call them up and ask.

[Picto]

Here is a recent review of the LS17SE published last April and written by John Crossett: Audio Research • LS17 SE Preamplifier | The Audio Beat

He gives some details on the upgrades brought to the initial LS17 and makes a comparison between initial and SE models.

Bertrand