Whither Audio Research

[andromedaaudio]

To be clear I was not referring to insolvency but the quality or products. For example, Marantz survived.
I hope they return to their glory days. There certainly are enough hedge funds and private equity firms to bail them out.

Why would you buy an audiocompany??
Restricted growth small market.
Most audiocompanies are a labour of love of some sort.
If even a great brand as ARC struggles to survive it ll be the last place id invest

 

[Gregadd]

I could guess many audio companies are turning a hefty profit despite "poor mouthing.'
Yes, many owners are hobbyist turned businessman. Most startups fail because they are poor at business and expect an early profit.
Martin Logan is owned by a hedge fund. Sennheiser was purchased by a hearing aid company, just to name two.

 

[KeithR]

I think in death ARC could be like a rock star. there existing products could increase in value.
Let's face it. When was the last time ARC released a must have product?

The Ref 75 was a big change in sound for the better and got loads of press and attention on this forum when released. That was used to develop all subsequent amps including the
gorgeous 160s.

ARCs misstep was the GS line design although some thought they sounded better.

I also don’t think CJ, VTL, or VAC have really done something to take market share. Vacs bias circuit was interesting. They really decided to go even more upscale which ARC hasn’t done.

 

[Another Johnson]

The Ref 75 was a big change in sound for the better and got loads of press and attention on this forum when released. That was used to develop all subsequent amps including the
gorgeous 160s.

ARCs misstep was the GS line design although some thought they sounded better.

I also don’t think CJ, VTL, or VAC have really done something to take market share. Vacs bias circuit was interesting. They really decided to go even more upscale which ARC hasn’t done.

Thanks for reminding me. I’ve got one of them (factory SE version) too. Greatest sounding 75 Wpc I’ve ever heard.

The owner of CJ says that the lion’s share of his revenues come from his ART series products (top of the line). CJ is an under $5M/year company with only a handful of employees , and a small footprint building.

CJ products are all single ended. No balanced allowed. Their remote control is limited, and noisy. No meters. Primitive displays. Extensive use of the Asian lucky number 8. Exclusive use of gold faceplates.

Popular enough to sell out their batch built limited editions (typically 250 unit runs).
And CJ’s owner is directly involved in all aspects of the business, including production (by necessity).

I’ve been a CJ aficionado since the PV5 was released over 35 years ago. I have been concerned that their dependence on one employee would be their downfall. Now it looks like their lack of payroll and overhead may be strong assets.

 

[Gregadd]

Probably class d has been the only real advance in audio amplification.

 

[andromedaaudio]

Id put the REF160M up there with any reference grade amplification regardless of price .
For a fraction of the price (20 k euros second hand ) you have great amps .
A lot in Audiophilia is not based on performance but on momentarily bling bling hype ( driven by commerce / magazines )
And people swallow it blindly

 

[Another Johnson]

Probably class d has been the only real advance in audio amplification.

I’ve owned a few mid fi class D amps from Marantz, Martin Logan, and others.

In my case, I remain ready to look forward to class D’s realized sonic potential.

It’s not fair for me to compare $4k products to $40k products and then whine that they don’t compete.

 

[Gregadd]

Merril lAudio Class D Monoblock | What's Best Audio and Video Forum. The Best High End Audio Forum on the planet! (whatsbestforum.com)

 

[Another Johnson]

Merril lAudio Class D Monoblock | What's Best Audio and Video Forum. The Best High End Audio Forum on the planet! (whatsbestforum.com)

My first thought was “Has George Merrill ventured out beyond his normal orbit as Turntable Guru?”

I googled and found my answer… no.

If ARC does fail, I will eventually be looking for some solid state monoblocks. There are several I’d want to audition, including DarTZeel, Burmester, D’Agostino, Levinson, and maybe even others, including McIntosh. If Merrill is still around should that day come, I’ll certainly want to hear them.

For now, my system is stable. I’m pretty happy with the sound.

 

[andromedaaudio]

Probably class d has been the only real advance in audio amplification.

Puke lol.

 

[davidavdavid]

I'm going to leave this right here with you all:

https://www.strata-gee.com/minn-ban...ment-against-audio-research-corp-trent-suggs/

and then there are these gems courtesy of Minnesota's State Judicial Branch

https://publicaccess.courts.state.mn.us/CaseSearch. t

type in the following case number: 27CV234399

Given the timeline outlined in the "strata-gee" piece linked above, this thread might very well be moot come May 18th, 2023. If that is indeed the case, hope you all had a swell time in this thread. No doubt there will be some new drama by then.

If I

An

 

[Bill Hart]

I have been monitoring the case file. There were several filings yesterday, most notably including an updated list of creditors and a brief in support of the receiver’s motion to extend the court ordered stay (which creates a status quo to block collection efforts by creditors, among other things) and to approve the continuing appointment of the receiver. The current stay order expires on June 3, 2023; the motion asks for an extension to August 3, 2023. At this early stage, I would not expect the motion to be controversial

The following statements in the brief are of particular interest:

• “While the company can still be profitable, Audio Research faced financial hardships resulting from market changes due in part to Covid, which unfortunately occurred at a time during which Audio Research had sought to expand and develop a new product line. The timing of the market slow down at a time of increasing costs and leverage rendered the company unable to pay debts to creditors as they became due.” I had speculated in an earlier post that the I/50 did not work out for the company; sadly this seems to be correct.
• Audio Research has a secured loan payable to Minnesota Bank & Trust (the “Bank”) which holds a security interest in substantially all assets of the company which was perfected by the filing of a financing statement on December 29, 2021. The secured obligation to the Bank is approximately $1,600,000. In addition, Audio Research has unsecured current liabilities of at least $1,000,000.”
• “To Assignee’s current knowledge, all payroll and sales taxes are current, and all employee wages and benefits are current.”

I suspect that the receiver is working cooperatively with the secured creditor, Minnesota Bank & Trust, to identify and find the right buyer. In the meantime, based on the fact that “all payroll and sales taxes are current, and all employee wages and benefits are current”, either the company is still cash flowing from operations, the Bank is still allowing draws on the company’s line of credit, or both. The Bank would not likely fund draws on the line if the company was not cash flowing. Therefore, for now it seems that it is business as usual except that unsecured creditors will most likely be selling goods or providing services on a cash only basis only.

Please note that I am merely speculating based on clues from the court filings.

To me, in the larger scheme of things, that secured loan to the bank is like a rounding error for some of the huge companies that are now here in Austin. It's almost like they need a wealthy patron who can afford to risk the money (unsecured creditors are always in a tougher position) and have good management and product direction going forward. No, I'm not suggesting I could write out that check but my point is, there is considerable wealth in this country and big businesses and some entrepreneurs making huge amounts of money that could well afford to help them. The question to me is, what direction and products for the future? Some of the high end brands went to car audio (kinda diminishes the brand from my perspective).

 

[Another Johnson]

To me, in the larger scheme of things, that secured loan to the bank is like a rounding error for some of the huge companies that are now here in Austin. It's almost like they need a wealthy patron who can afford to risk the money (unsecured creditors are always in a tougher position) and have good management and product direction going forward. No, I'm not suggesting I could write out that check but my point is, there is considerable wealth in this country and big businesses and some entrepreneurs making huge amounts of money that could well afford to help them. The question to me is, what direction and products for the future? Some of the high end brands went to car audio (kinda diminishes the brand from my perspective).

I agree that the amount seems small in the grand scheme. Reading the first link (Strata-gee link) it sounds as though TS is in for earlier negative ramifications, but ARC is not far behind.

There’s little to gained for the creditors by closing ARC down. They need a white knight who could come in and stop the losses. ARC sounds like they’re a victim of biting off more than changing circumstances would allow them to chew.

D&B type data suggest that ARC is a $30M/yr enterprise. The amount in default is less than 10%.

 

[DasguteOhr]

My alltime favorites v 70 and d 400 driven with pre reference one such a good match.d 400 so well build , tubelike liquid heights and mids with a bass control divine driving each speaker. Miss that beast.

 

[Republicoftexas69]

I thought ARC was owned by the same PE firm that owns SF and McIntosh?
Guess they are the bleeder not the leader.
Shame.

 

[Another Johnson]

I thought ARC was owned by the same PE firm that owns SF and McIntosh?
Guess they are the bleeder not the leader.
Shame.

Trent Suggs took ARC private a couple of years ago. As part of what became The McIntosh Group, ARC was sort of the red headed stepchild.

 

[Gregadd]

Maybe Harmon Inernational will pick them up
.

 

[Another Johnson]

Maybe Harmon Inernational will pick them up
.

Probably don’t need Levinson as a stablemate. Harman is big enough though.

 

[Lee]

There have been two buyers visiting ARC this week.

 

[Gregadd]

Fantastic.