Audio Research ARC DS450 Powerhouse Power Amp $3998

We’re Stereo Exchange, located in New York City. We've been in business since the 1970s and are a major high-end dealer. We have all the current top brands on display in our huge showroom.

We’ve always liked the sound of Audio Research products. They consistently sound great and are very solidly built. The company also offers a high level of service and upgrade paths for their products.

With ARC, it’s all about the midrange. It’s not that the highs are not smooth and extended (they are), or that their designs lack any bass (the bass seems to go VERY deep), but it’s the detail in the midrange that instantly hit you. You can literally hear instruments clearly that are blurred in lesser designs.

For Sale: One Audio Research DS450 stereo power amp in silver finish, with box, packing, outer box, manual, and power cord.

This sample was a demo in our store, and, though it has had very little use, it is over 3 years old, so it MUST be sold, according to ARC, as USED with no factory warranty. I just tested it.

It’s in QUITE presentable shape.

There is a TINY nick on the top edge of the faceplate, a few scratches on the right side, and some abrasions on the handles (see photos).

The handles could be replaced, along with even the top cover, if it bothers you. You are on your own to do that. Any way you slice it, or cosmetically improve it, it’s a bargain. If it were mine I would order BLACK handles!

Audio Research is best known for their amazing Tube amps, but they have also produced a number of Solid State amplifiers over the years that have received rave reviews.

ARC has always maintained that you can squeeze MOST of the sound that tubes are known for out of a solid state design with careful engineering, but it takes a lot of effort to pull it off.

This amp is, without doubt, the best solid-state stereo amp ever made by ARC.

Amazingly, it's not just Solid State, but uses ultra-high efficiency cutting-edge solid state Hybrid Class-D circuits that put out MASSIVE power with almost no heat.

I would guess that, in a blindfolded test, a LOT of hard-core audiophiles would NEVER know that they were not listening to tubes!

Part of the reason is that the amp has a “conventional” massive power supply backing up its modern output circuits, like a tube amp.

This “analog” power supply seems to impart the great bass that ARC tube amps have always been famous for.

On the other hand, unlike tube amps, the DS450 is...…

---Rock solid reliable and maintenance free

---Runs cool

---Delivers massive power

---Has more than sufficient current to run low impedance speakers with ease.

Rated for 450 Watts per channel into 8-Ohms and 550 Watts per channel into 4-Ohms, it provides more than sufficient power to drive any speaker you might ever wish to buy.

I’m not going to talk about the sound.

This is one of the company’s highly reviewed amps, combining a FULL dose of ARC sound quality with cool operation, solid reliability, and all the power almost anyone would ever need to power any speakers they might ever want to own…a great feeling!

The input impedance is very high (a good thing!) at 150,000-Ohms, so it will “lightly” load any preamp it’s paired up, tube or solid state.

PRICING: The DS450 retails for $8,000.00.

• $3998.00…Firm…a GREAT deal.
  

Please give it a good home.

Things to know…

This item is a store demo, and comes with NO factory warranty, with a 30-day Stereo Exchange warranty, but no refunds, or exchanges.

If (one in a million chance, I would guess) you have a functionality problem with 30 days, we will arrange to have it shipped (at your cost) to ARC or one of their service centers, and we will pay the parts and labor to get it working again. This is a formality for your piece of mind…this model is VERY reliable.

We accept PAYPAL and all major credit cards for sales to the US.

We accept PAYPAL ONLY for sales to Canada.

We will ship this item to the US and Canada ONLY.

Sales tax will be charged if the unit is shipped to / sold to within New York State, or picked up at the store.

The above words are the property of KZ Consulting and are NOT to be copied.