The end of an era. As the product cost increased over the generations I never saw the value increasing like companies such as Accuphase or post Alpine Luxman. Both of these companies, from what I saw bettered their best of the lines while modestly increasing the lowest all the while increasing their MSRP. As long as the lower end product quality does not slip tremendously all will be well :)

It is true.  There are two pending ARC legal cases; one is a collection action by the secured bank lender and the other is a state court receivership under which the court appointed receiver is trying to sell the company as a going concern.  On May 22 the court granted the receiver a stay of all creditor legal actions, including the bank's, through August 1 to give the receiver more time to try to get a deal done. As of this writing, nothing had been filed since then in either case so there is no deal yet.  The next hearing in the receivership case is scheduled for June 20.

Here's what ARC stands for now: "AS Receivership Continues" Now that's not funny because it's probably true!

@randybrinkman: Some ARC owners get defensive about their favorite brand of electronics, but your experience is not atypical. The ARC decision to not fuse their output tubes---using :"sacrificial" parts in their place---leads to amp repairs being required every time a tube goes bad. And output tubes in ARC amps going bad is a frequent occurrence (1,000 hours in typical); the tubes are driven hard. That amplifier design is akin to building a car which, when a tire blows, the car's suspension is taken out with it.

I’ve had an AR VSI 60 for 10 or 12 years. It can be a touch cold, but it’s transparent, 3D, and has strong and fast bass compared to other tube amps (in my experience.)

I’m so gun shy from the all the problems with this amp over the years, I rarely hook it up. It’s expensive to get repaired and KT120s are hard to come by these days.

I didn’t even consider Audio Research, before I bought a Primaluna EVO 300 last year. If a tube goes bad with that amp, a light comes on. If a tube goes bad on the AR, the amp burns up internal parts that have to be replaced.

This is my second Primaluna, I have an original Dialogue Premium that’s never had any issues. The AR sounds a little more HiFi, but I trust the primalunas and enjoy rolling tubes.

There has to be lots of people out there with similar stories. My VSI 60 wasn’t designed to be dependable. (My opinion) That’s not a recipe for success.

@jjss49 

I agree completely and couldn't have said it as well. 

got a chuckle out of this

we should all realize there are all kinds on a forum like this, and a subject like this one, arc going through a business transition, reminds us all too well that there are folks who are experienced, knowledgeable, and just as many whom are clueless - about business, about hifi, about the business of hifi

audio research has been, is, and will continue to be one of the defining, stalwart brands in high end hifi, beloved, with owners of their products all over the world -- such a brand will not be allowed to fall into the abyss, there is simply too much brand equity

one can only hope that this group of new owners/investors will work with their chosen management to make better business decisions -- about products, product positioning, operations, dealers and representation in the usa and around the world -- to put the company on solid footing once again, and be poised continue as an industry leader going forward

what bans?

Apparently he thinks that the most pessimistic posters on the thread should be banned from the forum!

🤣🤣🤣

should be considered for bans. 

what bans?

Things will change at ARC or at least should if they want to thrive.

So basically, it looks like ARC is probably going to be fine after a blip.

Too many people speculated way too hard with NO useful knowledge on this situation. The guys who were asserting "ARC is closed for business" should be considered for bans. 

Business is business, brand is brand,and owner is owner. As long as the brand is on the market, it is ok for most of us. The word " Dead"  at this moment is really their opinions and I don't agree with.

I totally agree with @4afsanakhan . This isn't 45 years ago. There are many tempting foreign and domestic brands, and only so many buyers.

From The Absolute Sound: Audio Research Corporation Is Dead! Long Live the New Restructured Audio Research Corporation!

https://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/audio-research-corporation-is-dead-long-live-the-new-restructured-audio-research-corporation/?mc_cid=57e827209c&mc_eid=dbc9896170

Re the point about asymmetry in market presence between European & US brands: I live in Scotland and spent the last several months trying to audition (and hopefully buy) an ARC amplifier. I approached all the listed dealers within several hours drive - few responded, and all who did simply tried to sell me other brands.

I approached the UK distributor directly - no response. I’ve no bought an Octave (German) and am very pleased with it. The self-inflicted idiocy of Brexit shouldn’t have impacted shipping from the US, so I’m going to just guess at a combo of the factory being unable to ship product, plus the lazy arrogance of much of the UK’s ‘high end’ dealers and distributors.

Audio Research make a very good sound,the problem is on its sales channel. 

They go the dealers and make the final sale price very high,way higher than the factory price. Look at Tesla cars! The cars must be complicated than the amplifier,as the cars include the hifi system,and much more. But Tesla let you order online as a retailer client. Why Audio Research can't??? Bring the retail price down is the first job,they need do. Get the direct channel instead of dealer way. Audio Research will make profit soon in the future.

I have been a fan of ARC since the mid 90’s. I am saddened that they are struggling and wish them all the best. I for one do not want to see this brand disappear into history. Visiting their factory many times over the years I always respected how they built things, and measures of quality control. So, despite the exhortative price tag of their products, I appreciate the value they represent. That being said, their products being so expensive and limited in their flexibility, I do see as a hinderance to purchasing their product. $5500.00 for an entry level integrated is a lot of money, for something that the competition sells at a cheaper price and can do more.  I am hoping they will take a long hard look at their line and the capabilities their components currently have. I would like to see them offer more affordable big bang for the buck solutions; like Gallion, PrimaLuna, Rogue, and Willsenton. The ghost meters in the current line of amps are cool, but I find products capable of rolling to different tube types, having features like auto bias circuits, and means to troubleshoot a bad tube far more appealing.

The ghost meters are cool, but I find products capable of rolling to different tube types, auto bias circuits, and means to troubleshoot a bad tube far more appealing.

@walkertm From The Ref 160M description (also applies to 160S and 80S):

The REF160M also features a proprietary auto-bias circuit that works with various tubes types, including 6550, KT88, and KT120, in addition to the supplied KT150 and works constantly to maintain precise bias of the output tubes, while also adjusting for tube wear. There is no need to check or adjust bias ever again.

Further speculation on boards like this is beyond pointless. I’m just waiting out to see what happens the next month. If my Ref 6 becomes unsellable, that sucks but it's no big deal to me - it’s still an amazing sounding preamp and I’ll find a use for it.

I think one option could be a spinoff. I have no idea what IP and patents they have, but this is such a complex science, and partly art that an amp company has two great assets: the engineers and the process. Minneapolis is the birthplace of so many inventions and innovations, the culture is there, they just need proper management.

co93

... receivership is an action taken by the creditors, not ARC ...

That is mistaken. In fact, based on the court filings, it may have been a surprise to the bank that this filing was made. (Although, given Suggs' delinquency, it shouldn't have been a total surprise.) The bank’s filings suggest its claim is with Suggs and his private company, not ARC.

If I recall correctly, W Z Johnson had a difficult time getting the right price to surrender his interest in the company and that initial buyout put ARC in an upside down position from that date forward. A great company---I have an all ARC system and respect the badge immensely--- I hope that a well financed savior who understands the audio market can take them out of the hole and deliver them up to where they deserve to be.

This is a receivership, not bankruptcy.   And what it really means in a nutshell is that the creditors with secured loans are not very happy (most likely delinquent payments) and the actual management of ARC will now be taken over by the Receiver.   It would make no sense for the receiver to liquidate ARC's critical infrastructure unless things are totally desperate.  Remember, receivership is an action taken by the creditors, not ARC.  If ARC needs to protect themselves from the creditors, then they would be filing Chapter 11.  Which is really a whole different (although often interrelated) thing.....

@jetter.  While it is expected that ‘sophisticated’ financial analysis was done before purchasing ARC, I very seriously doubt that this did much if anything to the continuation of a successful business. How many times have we seen folk pay multi millions for businesses that fundamentally were worth ‘peanuts’, and had extensive and sophisticated’ financial analysis done prior to acquisition? Makes me laugh…

Cables are discounted now since China makes counterfeits of most all cables the used market is dead since most think cables are counterfeits. Ive tried to sell used costly cables all you get is accusations that they are fakes. And the audio market is cyclic we had massive demand and sales during COVID it makes sense after all that buying things would greatly slow down. And AR has been making junk of late why they are dying.

I am sure that Mr. Suggs had sophisticated financial analysis prepared by specialist to determine the advisability of purchasing ARC.  For those of you not familiar with the business world this is a mandatory and usual step for ANYONE purchasing a business, from the purchase of a major business to a coffee shop.  And probably the bank would have examined this analysis as well as the company assets securing the loan.

Then on a monthly or at least quarterly basis there would be analysis prepared that compares what budgeted income and expenses were, by major income and expense classes, to determine what is working well and what is not.

Quite frankly, I find it hard to see any light at the end of this tunnel.  

The quality is extremely poor. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PR-ry-DFdeo&t=1229s

This could be the end.   

Per the previous discussion, the following new sale may be a sign of hard times in hi-end audio, for other companies than Audio Research. Big HE manufacturers selling off high-priced items at major discounts. For instance, a 5m pair of Audioquest Wind RCA interconnects (list $7300) selling off at $2399. A lot of other examples of fire-sale pricing on uber-priced equipment, such as: AudioQuest 2m XLR Wel Signature Interconnects (retail $10,200) selling off at $2,999.00.

https://www.musicdirect.com/search/?sc_lid=237651901&sc_llid=100554&sc_src=email_3470468&sc_uid=kgPjcS8a0E&utm_campaign=musicdirect%20soundbytes%20issue%20%231093_6_05-06-23sc_eh%3D4590af3f68eb09b91&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Emarsys#/+/0/score/desc/?tab=product&brand_name_na_str=AudioQuest&category_names_na_str=Cable,Equipment&specials_na_str=On%20Sale
   

#jea48

Sorry but its not true that to be an ARC Dealer you must carry every product. Ive had 3 ARC dealers within 30 minutes of me over the last decade and NONE of them had more than 1 ARC system in the house. Another dealer friend of mine just signed up to be an ARC dealer within the past few months and while the situation isnt solidified I can guarantee you 100% that he wont be carrying a full line. Think he's only getting the Mid Tier - Lower priced gear and not the M160 Mono/Stereo etc stuff

In August 2020 Trent Suggs who was a sales manager bought the struggling company (Nobody seems to know where he got the money).

It appears ARC/Trenton Suggs, borrowed the money from Minnesota Bank and Trust, a division of HTLF Bank. It appears as of a court filling on 04/28/2023 ARC/Trenton Suggs owed the Bank $1,750,00.00 and counting.

This is from a post on SH Forum. (click on second PDF posted by "The Computer Audiophile", Wednesday at 9:22AM.)

Audio Research is gone?

From what I understand about the operating business model of ARC is that ARC builds very little inventory held at the factory. ARC’s inventory for years was held by the ARC dealers. FWI, the Dealers buys and pays up front for the equipment before it is shipped to the Dealer. Worked that way for years from my understanding. Pretty good business model for ARC. ARC didn’t have their Capital/money setting in a warehouse collecting dust.

The ARC Dealers chose what equipment they wanted to purchase from ARC. That included what equipment they bought for demo equipment displayed in the store. Therein a smaller ARC Dealer could carry store demo equipment of his choosing and if a customer wanted to buy a piece of equipment the dealer may have a new one in stock or tell the customer the dealer would order it from ARC. (From my understanding the piece of equipment would be built or finally assembled after order was placed and paid for.) Customer paid for the equipment up front. Dealer then placed the order with ARC. Money paid up front to ARC for the piece of equipment.

Things seemed to work ok between the Dealers and ARC under this agreement for years.

Then, from what I was told, ARC/Trent Suggs changed the business model. At least for the ARC dealer in my area. New policy, to be an ARC Dealer the Dealer would have to carry the full line of ARC equipment. Remember the Dealer buys, owns, the ARC equipment on display in his store paid for up front before it is shipped. At the prices of of ARC equipment for a Dealer to carry, buy, of all of the ARC line to display in his/her store would be a considerable cost for an average, or bigger than average, size Brick and Mortar Dealer. The Dealer in my state dropped ARC. There is not any ARC Dealer in my State anymore. I wonder how many other Dealers dropped ARC after Trenton Suggs purchased ARC.

ARC Dealers in North America. Not sure if this list is current today.

https://audioresearch.com/north-american-dealers/

.

#bluorion

The I/50 is already like 1 year old. Reviews started coming out last Spring.

@grislybutter Indeed…thats about 19,000 liters of fuel so cruising that size “boat” at 20 knots would yield somewhere between 1,100 and 1,200 nautical miles of range.

$26,000 of diesel in his 170' boat for a Saturday cruise

something doesn't add up. That's about two or three times more than it should be, or maybe my yacht is super efficient.

Sad to see a dedicated audio company starting to go under---maybe they'll be bought out? But didn't AR show off their new integrated I50 at AXPONA recently? Does anyone know if the I50 is doing well in sales numbers? 

I hope Krell isn't next.

Kodac wrote: ARC designs are compromised and not state of the art. Overpriced for what you get. See video for the anatomy of their flagship mono blocks.

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PR-ry-DFdeo

OCD Guy /11Stereo Atlanta is a NAT dealer. Upstart rival. You always pick a fight with the biggest kid when you want to make a name for yourself. 

What I am buying when I buy ARC gear is proven research converted into field tested technology. Nobody has the power transformer technology ARC has. It's proprietary and as my repairman says  "has some magic in it".  Anybody can build a frame, buy some good quality caps, resistors, tubes, etc. and solder them together.. But what combo creates what voice? There is where the years and years of laboratory work pay off. 

I agree that the Ref 750s were overpriced at retail. So what? Buy a used set for $15K. They are readily available and flat out awesome if you like clean volume. Moreover they weren't priced for poor guys. Really wealthy men don't flinch at 85K for amps. I have a friend who puts $26,000 of diesel in his 170' boat for a Saturday cruise to Charleston for dinner and back. That's not counting the crew of 4, the fine wine he serves, the boat itself, the insurance, maintenance etc. It's an $85,000 Saturday- which is no big deal to him. There are LOTS of guys with that kind of bank. More than you can imagine.  

You get the point: Cost of luxury goods are relative to the will of the spender. ARC sold a blue Jillion of those Ref 750s. Ditto the Ref 600s, and the latest (10 years old now) Ref 250s. 70% of their sales were overseas! You can get a Ref 75 for 4K, a Ref 250 for 10K, and a ref 750 for 15K pretty easily these days. Add a Ref 5SE and you have the core of a system that will rival almost anything sold today- for very little money. 

This begs a question: Why is resale so low compared to original MSRP?  The answer may surprise you.  Rich men don't spend much time quibbling over rounding errors when they trade in or trade up. Most of the truly wealthy guys I know call up their dealer and say "come get my LS 460 and bring me an LS 500L in the morning" They don't trot out with their calculator and checkbook haggling like an rug merchant at at bazaar. The bill goes to their family office and gets examined, verified and paid. If the dealer gouges him his office manager calls them up and explains that if this isn't fixed Daddy Warbucks and all his 300 golfing, sailing, club buddies will never buy from Mr. Greedydealer again. Presto! the invoice changes. Big Daddy's golf outing isn't interrupted so he's happy, the family office gang is proud of protecting the cash well, and the dealer has some used equipment to move for quick cash.  

William Z. Johnson who was the visionary died in December 2011. If you recall we were still in reeling from the 2008-09 crash and high end stereo sales were way down- Hifi shops were closing all over the country. Johnson sold the company in 2008 to FineSounds SpA (Sonus Faber) which later rolled up into McIntosh Group in 2016. In August 2020 Trent Suggs who was a sales manager bought the struggling company (Nobody seems to know where he got the money). I was told Suggs was a WZ Johnson fan boy who wanted to get the old cooperate culture back that the suits destroyed. The damage to the morale but not the brand was done. The plan for rebuilding the clubby atmosphere and bringing top grade products to market was disrupted by COVID supply chain disruptions, then insane input costs (+400% in some cases)  and lack of capital 

Take the M320 for example. That amp was supposed to hit the market last year- now it's not even on the website. 

Massive cost increases, playing catch up, and underfunding all contributed to this receivership.  Now there will be a struggle for who gets to own ARC. 

Personally I don' think it will vanish- the brand is too valuable. Here's to hoping that a real HiFi man will buy it and love it and tenderly care for it like William Z did. It is an American icon and needs to be saved. 

Years ago I schlepped my "original series" Schiit Freya to a gathering of some audio geek friends to compare it to other stuff including a couple of ARC preamps...I still use the Freya as my main preamp. Does Schiit know something ARC doesn't? You bet they do.

Too many products, many overpriced. $10,000 for a preamp that weighs in at twelve pounds is hard to rationalize. I had an LS-28 in my system for a while and although it was nice, it was not great, didn’t seem that well made and the new styling wasn’t for me.

But I wish them well and am sure they will make a comeback.

Post in this thread:

https://www.audioshark.org/audio-research-corporation-arc-36/future-audio-research-21912.html?highlight=future+audio+research

Re: The Future of Audio Research

Hello, everyone. This is my first Audioshark post because I want to make everyone aware of what is going on at Audio Research. Some of you know me because I was hired by Bill Johnson in 1989. I left for a few years (Thiel), and returned to ARC in 1996. 

Audio Research voluntarily agreed to assign its assets to a receiver, Lighthouse Management Group, Inc, on April 4th. I 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, which was 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 Ref10, RefPhono10, and Ref160M 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 is shipping parts and product orders along with completed service units. 

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. 

Operating a dedicated, high performance audio electronics manufacturer is more difficult than you might imagine, particularly given the increasing cost of doing business because of parts shortages, continuation engineering, shipping costs, inflation, and so many other things. Audio Research continues to build every product by hand, including hand-soldering components, creating their meter assemblies using local suppliers, and supporting products more than 50 years old. After each piece is completed, it is bench tested, burned in for 24-48 hours, bench tested again, and auditioned in a reference system to make sure it sounds right before being packed. And, every service piece is auditioned, too. It is an exhaustive process. If any of you are around Minneapolis, schedule an appointment to see how we do it.

ARC designs are compromised and not state of the art. Overpriced for what you get. See video for the anatomy of their flagship mono blocks.

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PR-ry-DFdeo

I know that this may sound strange, but where a problem exist, there maybe an exciting opportunity.  The market maybe rough right now, but might a conglomeration of individuals come together to emerge this Phoenix.  I would be happy to speak with any members interested in pooling resources towards this venture.  Please DM privately to discuss. 

"It ain't over 'tlll it's over..." Receivership doesn't necessarily mean liquidation and closing the doors. Hopefully they can work out something with the creditors (who get less than 100% of what they're owed) and the company moves forward in their reorganized state.

@ghasley I fully agree. From myself personally along with a number of friends and acquaintances, who've jumped into two channel, mostly due to my journey and setup.

Your post is very well said. There are plenty of younger people who have plenty of disposable income and a passion for the hobby, along with a growing variety of brands and choices in the market. Which is a great thing but does makes it even harder to pick new components with all the choices!

Yes...the last 2 years were record sales years....haha..COVID....everyone was Home for 2 years...now people are back outside again and that's why sales have slowed considerably...look at the sales going on....You want to buy a hi fi piece of gear.....bargain with the retailer. I did and he discounted $$$$ off.

as far as I know (and I know 0), a business needs to 1) increase the prices or 2) sell more stuff to stay alive. If they sell something that a) very few people can buy and b) never breaks, they will have a problem (unless they also sell coke behind the warehouse)

But usually, with my business sense, doing the opposite of what I think would work is the right approach. So, no, don’t sell coke behind the warehouse.

I am not suggesting ARC go mass market, but may be they should consider some diversification.  Do they make a headphone amp?  How about they emulate Manley and offer some pro oriented equipment.  When studios switched to digital recording/mixing the demand for tube equipment skyrocketed.  If you can design a low noise phono stage, I would think you could design a microphone preamp.  Tube compressor/limiters are a thing.  Even a small format line mixer should be doable.  How about a tube guitar amplifier?  Somebody has to make the most expensive guitar amplifier.

Alternatively ARC can continue to do exactly what they have been doing.  True they keep changing ownership and right now are in receivership, but may be that has nothing to do with what they sell. 

@atmasphere I think you are right about the KT150. + @daveyf  + @fsonicsmith1 

Y​​es, I have been tracking both KT150s and KT120s past 3 years, closely.  Picked up two spare quad sets in small availability windows that came and went again.   My amps use these tubes only.  Checking monthly, the group of less known suppliers I use [who stock up] are out of stock, again.  Checking the manufacturer - they are out of stock again too.  Clearly the war and supply lines as mentioned is not helping the situation.  The major supply in volume outside of individual sellers is relatively thin, gone for now. The supplies I tracked that "were coming  in May" are "out of stock" again or never came in.  Not sure exactly but the message is the same.  

Following ARC past few years, they were purchasing big batches, and then sorting again matching even closer matched sets in supply box groupings/ranges for new amps and replacements for customers re-tubuing their amps.  

Seems It's kinda hard to sell new amps or service existing customers in volume when you can't get output tubes in supply, or how you need them. I'm wondering who will surface to clone KT120s and KT150s, take it on, and start selling them.  

ARC isn’t set up to be a high-volume manufacturer.  They’re a premium brand that plays in the higher end.  Full stop.  They are not Sony.  And there is plenty of room for audio manufacturers in that space and plenty are doing well.  This strikes of mismanagement to me, which leaves me hopeful that someone who understands the luxury goods market can rescue this iconic company assuming they find the right buyer.  I’m hopeful and optimistic that there’s enough brand equity and concerned long-term employees that they’ll find the right solution and soldier on.