Has anyone heard the new North American products preamp and amp?

Well why doesn't roger just say that then.  It at least makes sense and is understandable.  

This gear (H-Cat) was discussed at length years ago and there were many concerns around the company and very few found the gear to live up to what was advertised. Sounds like just more rhetoric to me.  

 

That’s very unusual, to refer to the speed of sound waves in the room as Mach 1, since Mach number is a dimensionless quantity, whereas the speed of sound has dimensions ft/second. Ordinarily we see Mach number associated with aircraft or spacecraft traveling through air at certain altitudes and temperatures. The SR-71 was a Mach 2+ aircraft! for example. The sonic boom of a jet aircraft is produced when air flow collapses around the rear of the compressible fluid of air at Mach 1. Mach 1 is not a constant and depends largely on temperature.

rsf507, also judge ARC gear in 1990 as it must be today.

geoffkait, Mach 1 is simply the speed of sound through the air and yes it varies with temperature, but waves of sound in live performances get to the listener all at the same speed. With other amps, the waves of different frequencies imparted by the speaker drivers earlier and later and thus get to your ears at different times. I must say that I am assuming you are not departing your listening room at Mach 1 and you would hear nothing.