Hopefully they won't be purchased by a private equity firm as wee all know what happens then, and as @clearthinker mentioned.
I still can't help wondering if the problem isn't a shrinking market and inflating prices. Fifty years ago when I was first getting into audio, Audio Research gear was out of my price range, and if new, it still is, but the price differential between now and then is just way beyond average inflation rates for most (not all} consumer goods.
At the same time, there is an ageing and shrinking customer base, as well as an infinite and tempting variety of domestic and imported brands in the Audio Research price range. It's not hard to see why there would be a problem, even if the company was being well managed.