Audio Research in Receivership

[Nopiano]

I think a history is no guarantee of a future in the Hifi-Industry . A few years ago mention a high end pre-amp and they were one of the first names put forward . Others promote their brand more succesfully and get the attention . McDonald's don't stop advertising. burgers just cos they sell millions of them .
Just treading water in the industry is not good enough

Very true. Great products -v- great marketing is a very interesting debate. For years I didn’t connect magazine reviews with marketing - I know better now.

And with all those YouTube reviewers of today, there must be dozens of bits of kit floating around the place, never mind any actual stock in dealers and/or importers. (Not Audio Research, but generally)

 

[Juancho]

Jules I was assured by On Off HiFi when I bought my DSI200 from them that it would be very easy to get it repaired in a Portugal by one of the technicians that they use without the need for it to be returned to ARC. Don’t know about the UK but I would have thought that there must be skilled enough people there.

I recently repaired an ARC amp. Easy enough but parts had to be sourced through Absolute Sounds who quote one price and charge a higher one, and those spares were not cheap either.......

 

[hifinutt]

from Audio Research

Audio Research voluntarily agreed to assign its assets to a receiver, Lighthouse
Management Group, Inc, on April 4th. We want you to understand what that means and
how it affects our daily operations.
Audio Research has been operating since the assignment was filed almost four weeks
ago, ten days before the AXPONA show where our VP of Sales (Allan Haggar) worked
with our dealer Quintessence Audio, which featured a statement system including Ref 10,
Ref Phono10, and Ref 160M MkII amps.
Little has changed outwardly. Audio Research remains staffed with Greg and Evan
answering questions and assisting owners via email and on the phone; the service
department continues repairing products; production is building new products and
performing updates; our parts inventory has been good and we continue to receive parts
shipments; our sales department continues to accept product orders, and our shipping
department continues shipping parts and product orders along with completed service
units.
Dave Gordon gave our Philippine distributor a tour of the facilities on April 26, where he
and his wife were able to meet everyone, see everything going on, and listen to music in
the sound room. The tour had been scheduled in March and did not need to be
cancelled or postponed.
Trent Suggs was relieved of control of Audio Research and we have been working with
individuals to purchase the company: we expect to have a new owner very soon. There
will be continuity as production, engineering, purchasing, service, and critical personnel
will remain working for Audio Research. Including Warren Gehl.
We just turned 53 in April and we look forward to continuing to provide the finest high
performance audio products, service and support to our loyal customers, dealers and
distributors.

 

[DUVET]

Hovland folded in 2009 due to poor domestic sales . Reading an article in stereophile their business model was for a 40/60 split for domestic vs overseas sales . They ended up 10/90 and this basically bust the company . The discount to foreign distributors making profit impossible . I just wonder what the appetite in America is for hifi . You can have as many shows as you want but its doesn't mean it's shifting .

 

[Nopiano]

An article in Tracking Angle said we would know about the new owners yesterday 15 May. I can’t find any announcement, but would appreciate it if anyone else has seen one?

Meanwhile, I did find this, which explains how the loans increased and the losses mounted. Fingers crossed there’s a good outcome.
https://www.strata-gee.com/minn-ban...ment-against-audio-research-corp-trent-suggs/

 

[hifinutt]

yes they are still awaiting news of new owner

 

[Cable Monkey]

Tesla Audio. Elon has a bit of spare time coming up.

 

[DomT]

Tesla Audio. Elon has a bit of spare time coming up.

Well he is a fully paid up member of MAGA (Make Audio Great Again)

 

[George 47]

https://www.theabsolutesound.com/ar...ead-new-corporation-for-audio-research-brand/

 

[Nopiano]

Interesting who is taking them on. Had never heard of these speakers, but then they are Canadian.

https://www.acoraacoustics.com/

 

[hifinutt]

Great news

 

[George 47]

Straight from ARC and mention of some new products.

 

[George 47]

The Deed is done.

Press Release: Audio Research purchased by AR Tube Audio Corporation, a privately owned
Delaware Corporation.

Minneapolis, Minnesota (June 20, 2023)

Audio Research Corporation was acquired by AR Tube Audio Corporation, a privately-owned Delaware-based corporation which includes Valerio Cora of Acora Acoustics Corporation as a director. Audio Research will operate independently from Acora Acoustics, an Ontario-based high-performance loudspeaker corporation. The acquisition was approved by a judge after an asset purchase agreement was made with Lighthouse Management Group.

Private equity and venture capital investment groups are not involved in the new corporation, it is comprised of passionate audiophiles devoted to great music reproduction.

Audio Research was founded in Minneapolis in 1970, and will remain in its Maple Grove, Minnesota facility where it designs, builds, and supports the hand-made products that have established it as the preeminent manufacturer of vacuum-tube audio electronics. The loyal and long-term staff of employees will remain unchanged, but is expected to grow alongside the company. Audio Research’s network of select dealers and distributors will remain stable and continue to receive the full support of the company, as will the many thousands of loyal Audio Research owners.

This acquisition is set to provide the financial stability required to resume the growth that Audio Research had achieved over the decades. There are exciting new products on the horizon, like the Reference 320M amplifier, which will fuel Audio Research’s growth. The product line remains, and will continue to develop over time in the tradition you have come to expect from Audio Research.

Valerio Cora, with his extensive business experience and ownership of Audio Research components for many years, is the perfect person to be at the helm. “I am thrilled to be joining the fantastic team at Audio Research on their journey towards a very bright future. As someone whose audio journey has been built on the foundation of Audio Research, I am deeply honored to have the opportunity to contribute to such an innovative and forward thinking brand. I can’t wait to work alongside these amazing people and help drive Audio Research’s success to even greater heights!”

 

[simon g]

By way of a thread update. The new ownership seems to have resulted in even higher prices in the UK. For example, the I/50, introduced in the UK in Nov 22 for £5198, is now £7K, more or less a 35% price rise in 12 months. £7k for their intro product? I can't see that going very well. No wonder Doug Brady is selling off their i50 stock!

 

[DomT]

By way of a thread update. The new ownership seems to have resulted in even higher prices in the UK. For example, the I/50, introduced in the UK in Nov 22 for £5198, is now £7K, more or less a 35% price rise in 12 months. £7k for their intro product? I can't see that going very well. No wonder Doug Brady is selling off their i50 stock!

When Ajay bought SME the prices also increased significantly. Many say that Michell turntables are under priced. It’s always irksome when there are significant price increases and the market will tell us in due course if the new pricing is acceptable or not.

 

[Nopiano]

And today the pound has dropped to its lowest for some time versus the dollar, so I can’t see any realignment coming shortly.

 

[George 47]

Unfortunately, it is happening with a lot of audio equipment as they use a lot of expensive and difficult-to-get items like computer chips, big capacitors etc. Makes the used market interesting and allowed me to get a new power amplifier.

 

[bigrod]

When anything new is in short supply , pre owned starts to increase in price …
Fortunately I’ve got what I want now and not in the market for any grandiose amps Dacs or TT or speakers .. but it will all settle eventually..

 

[Cable Monkey]

Raising prices of a product like that has no impact on the majority of enthusiasts. If you can afford to drop 5k on a single product you can probably afford 7. The number of people who would be a go for 5 but a no for 7 would be very small. And we have anecdotal evidence that raising the price might even stimulate sales, especially in those markets where this stuff sells well. It is what makes HiFi pricing pretty enigmatic. We are always on the lookout for giant beating cheap or reassuringly expensive!

 

[ssfas]

Raising prices of a product like that has no impact on the majority of enthusiasts. If you can afford to drop 5k on a single product you can probably afford 7. The number of people who would be a go for 5 but a no for 7 would be very small. And we have anecdotal evidence that raising the price might even stimulate sales, especially in those markets where this stuff sells well. It is what makes HiFi pricing pretty enigmatic. We are always on the lookout for giant beating cheap or reassuringly expensive!

Speak for yourself! £5k is sensible but £7k? Would make the difference to me. What puts me off is the manual says it doesn't have auto-bias, so you have to take it in every time you change the valves - some at 2,000 hours and the main ones at 4,000 hours. Sounds like fun - for my back.