The quest for the ultimate audiophile system is now complete. At least the part where I find the best system I have ever heard. Certainly not the part where I pay for it and take delivery! I listened to this spectacular system on a tour of Audio Research Corporation. The funny thing is, we spent more time talking about the non-ARC pieces of the system than we did the ARC components that were made right outside the listening room. The reasons for this are simple. A system with all Audio Research components speaks for itself. No wonder ARC doesn't advertise much, if ever. In addition, ARC components are so transparent the only possible adjustments you'd want to make are cables, speakers, and power conditioning. Join me for a look inside this legendary American high end audio equipment manufacturer.

Getting There
My ARC tour was scheduled for 9:30 and I was on the opposite side of the Twin Cities at 9:00. Under normal conditions the drive would take me 20 minutes. But, the driving conditions were far from normal. A typical March snow storm was dumping snow on Minneapolis and causing a traffic nightmare. I don't want to incriminate myself so I won't go into the details of how I arrived at the front door of Audio Research Corporation at 9:31. When an opportunity this cool comes along you have to take matters into your own hands!

The Tour
Shortly after I arrived I was greeted by Leonard who would give me the complete tour. We entered the production area of the facility where all the magic happens. You can follow every component from its infancy as a single circuit board to the final listening test to the packaging of the tubes for shipment. This is not a small facility, but it is certainly not a huge factory that pumps out hundreds of units per day. Everything throughout the whole production process is done carefully by hand. With this much attention to detail it is amazing that ARC can produce enough units to satisfy global demand.

As Leonard guided me through the facility I walked by the empty metal shells that would later contain the internal parts being assembled ten feet away. The further we walked the more each unit started to look like the final product. I was quite surprised to see half a dozen 610T amplifiers in different stages of assembly. The 610T was the component of the year in one of the popular print magazines and retails for around $40,000. Seeing the care and quality that goes into making the 610T sure helps you understand the retail price of the product. Add the incredible sound of the 610T to the equation and it really makes sense why I saw so many being assembled. They are worth every penny. Period. To some readers that may sound crazy, but I am dead serious. There is no snake oil or smoke & mirrors around Audio Research. This company and its products are the real deal. Companies like ARC give high end audio a good name.

Midway through the tour I was shown the repair section of the facility. As you can imagine not much space was dedicated to this function. I saw products from every decade I've been alive on this planet. ARC's products really do last a lifetime if you're willing to send them in every thirty years for a little tune-up. According to Leonard the older products with toggle switches have problems after so many years of flipping them up and down. ARC has since phased out the toggle switch in favor of the current black switch visible in many of the photos here. Not too far from the repaid section is the area where every single tube is tested for around 72 hours. The first thing that came to mind when looking at all the empty tube sockets was heat. I bet it is unbearable in this are in the middle of August when the humidity is as sky high as the temperature. Next to the tube testing are was, you guessed it, a large collection of tubes awaiting placement into a component. Call me what you want, but the sight of all the tubes gave me a good feeling and the itch to get into my listening chair.

Finishing up the walking part of the tour Leonard brought me through the rows and rooms of stocked parts for current and old models. If you need a replacement for the fifteen year old faceplate on your preamp you might be in luck. One of the most popular requests Leonard receives is for replacement screws. People seem to lose them often he said as we walked through shelves containing screws for every ARC component imaginable. You have to love those loyal ARC customers who will only replace missing screws with screws directly from the manufacturer.