Jack, since you asked, we had an ARC dealer, well, we have a new one now, but I've heard a fair amount of ARC and even auditioned an amp/preamp when I owned Dyn's, before buying my CJ. This is just my own taste, I do not like ARC. I also have heard a lot of Mac and although I like it better than ARC, I would not have it in my system either.

I heard an ARC Ref Preamp some years back connected to Classe monoblocks driving the top Nautilus Diamond. Big price tag but just didn't do anything for me. In fact, I've heard B&W a lot driven by ARC and Classe amps, to Mac's credit it wasn't until I heard the big Nautilus lit up by the 1k monoblocks I gained new respect for the speaker. I had no idea the big boys could do bass like that.

I respect both lines and recommend them if some one is looking for their type of sound.