@mlsstl + 1, but it takes planning
@renosteve while your experience was unfortunate, I also disagree that Jim Salk deserves anything less than the very best. I say that because of all the folks I encountered at a couple of audio shows, he was the most gracious, down-to-earth, and professional. The other was Fritz Heiler of Fritz Speakers.
With Jim, he was the same both times I visited the Salk room. He offered information, answered my questions, and never made me feel in any way like I was wasting his time. Have you ever walked onto a luxury car showroom or high-end audio retailer, and were approached with a “what do you want looky-loo” attitude? Jim was the opposite of that.
He was always very responsive to my research emails, even after I decided to go with another brand. More recently, I was very interested in picking up his BePure 2’s as my next (and possibly last) speakers. I am disappointed that Jim decided to wind down his business due to lack of a suitable buyer. Which brings us to this point …
The reality is that the boutique audio industry is, by its very nature, very “designer centric”. There are many brands that are synonymous with their founders/designers and vice versa. Besides Salk Sound and Fritz Speakers, I’m sure we can all quickly name quite a few. When that’s the case, the business has extremely slim survival chances without the founder/designer. A rare exception might be the Backerts at Backert Labs where there is somewhat a built-in legacy.
In business, unless the owner has taken very deliberate steps to make the company “sellable” it will likely to cease operations beyond the founder/designer’s exit. Without naming them (kind of morbid), I can think of a couple of audio folks I dealt with who later died and their businesses died with them. Another industry veteran was hospitalized recently and folks were wondering what might become of his company if he was no longer there.
I was involved in the business sales and acquisitions industry during my professional career. The Salk Sound story is very common; and please understand I am not singling out Jim. But the reality is, not only in the audio industry, but also other successful entrepreneurs don’t plan for the ultimate and absolute certainty that they will exit their business eventually. That exit is certain. Either they will become tired and retire or they’ll die. Whether the company survives beyond that point is a matter of planning for the best outcome.
I thank and appreciate Jim Salk for his contributions to the audio industry. I wish Jim and his wife Mary nothing but happiness and success for the next chapter of their lives.