Verity Audio speaker manufacturer silent...

A couple months ago someone else mentioned they heard they were going out of business. If true it’s sad because they made truly excellent sounding speakers and one of the relative few that were tube friendly, but their marketing was always non existent — very few dealers, no reviews, no ads, rarely at shows, etc. so it’s not a total surprise.  Seems like it was an outstanding product in dire need of just some basic marketing/management, so I guess it’s not all that surprising they’d even fumble their going out of business communications. Their CEO is gonna have some explaining to do when looking for a new job as he apparently did nothing.  Very sad, and I find myself hoping someone with some business acumen and deep pockets will come to the rescue but probably unlikely.

Sad indeed. Love my Parsifal Encores. Just so easy on the ears. Tried to mate a subwoofer but concluded they really didn't need one when set up properly. It was always surprising to me that they had so few dealers.

@bjesien Any truth to this rumor?

Our hours are finite unfortunately and our children not always willing to continue legacy.

@jc4659 Yes heard from a source very close that it is true, they are no longer in business. Too bad, a reminder that everything is fragile.

That is unfortunate I've admired their speakers from afar but never heard one.

Sad - a highly respected Canadian manufacturer of excellent speakers seems to have gone silent.

I have been enjoying my Verity Audio Parsifal Ovations since 2010, and I dreamed of one day going up the Verity Audio food chain to an even better speaker. Sadly that will not be possible.

The VA Parsifal Ovation is an outstanding speaker.  I remember reading 15 years ago that pianist Keith Jarrett owned a pair of VA Parsifals, and that impressed me then as I thought they were very musical speakers and I imagine he did too!

I owned one of their first parsifals over 25 years ago ,very good sounding and 

was solid with most any types of amps . I agree they have not advertised or regulars in the magazines for at least 15 years or more ,which is a major mistake in Audio .it’s too bad , just like Kharma Loudspeakers they were very popular back in the 90s a excellent speaker I owned and is still around mainly in Europe .

Meadowlark totally baffled me ,they made a nice speaker beautiful hard woods 

and all good scan speak drivers and had a pretty decent following.

I was speaking to buy a pair then next thing you know he went out of business .

there was much more to that story which was sad to hear .

Never liked seeing a long running business go down.  I ran my family business which started in 1913 until retirement in 2019.  Passed it on to the next generation successfully on hope it works out for them.  By the way, my first speakers were from STR, 1975.  Anybody remember them or have any history?

Keep voting for Trudeau and this country will be completely destroyed.

…….so hiltoy this is Trudeau’s fault. Just couldn’t help yourself as we have people here who blame one person for everything that is happening. Just amazing at the short sidedness . I visited Verity Audio last July and my wife and I had a wonderful time at Verity followed by lunch with Julien the CEO of Verity . Their new line of speakers are amazing as I bought a pair of their new Arindals in glossed walnut . Simply beautiful to look at the music is simply engaging and without peer in my opinion. The posters here have hit what I think the central issue was ……no marketing and the only speaker that has been mentioned here  is their Parsifal. That speaker put them on the map but they also made many other models that we as great as the Parsifals and some even better. I looked for a long time for my new speakers and fell in love with the Arindals . But the marketing was non-existent and there was little to no press or advertising. It was a kiss of death in this hobby. I am not happy personally over their closing and as noted it is not good overall for our hobby. One thing that is for sure is that Verity Audio’s speakers are very well built with very good products inside and will last me for years . I wish Julien the best Ali with Bruno as they are truly exceptional people and made some really beautiful sounding speakers . One could only hope that a private equity firm invested in Verity to keep it going but the brains and individuals who loved making music will probably not be there . 

@hilroy48  , like RED HAT lite will be so much better.

How about we keep politics out of this.

I wish I had concrete info, and better memory, but just recently, I forgot who I was speaking with, but they also told me as others have stated that they are done. I dismissed it because I thought maybe it was just a rumour , but I guess it seems true. Really great sounding speakers.

I've looked at Verity Audio speakers often, but I couldn't get past the rear firing woofers.  Does this make placement and the construction, treatment, etc. of the front wall really important?  How do they do in the bass in general?

I sent an email to Verity Audio this afternoon enquiring about speaker availability. I received a prompt and helpful reply from Mr. Julien Pelchat - the co-founder and owner of Verity Audio. He wrote this:

"For your information, Verity Audio has ceased its operations on December 22, 2023."

That is not a rumour but a pronouncement from the proverbial horse’s mouth.

He mentioned that some distributors and dealers may still have some stock.

My first introduction was a Goodwin's in Boston.  I went up to listen to some speakers in 2003 or so and came home with a pair of Taminos. They were very dimensional, colored a bit, but I loved them. 

A bit later a local dealer began carrying Devore speakers. A bit of a different flavor but the Tamino's were replaced by the Super 8. Goodwin's listed a pair of Parsifal Encore rev3 a couple years later and I called and asked them to pair them with a ref 110 and I think ref3...those came home.

DEF 9's, Otellos, etc. A bunch of non keepers in between.

Goodwin's told me that they nobody could kill the Verity speaker, never a repair or issue after a decade of sales. Since than I've heard most of them. Lovely speaker

Sad to see them go. The Parsifal got them on the map and I've always thought that was one of their best offerings. 

@tomcy6 the cabinet quality is very high. To say this design is a monitor with a dedicated sub dumbs it down, but I think this design gives them the incredible dimensionality. 

+1 @bjesien 

Verity Audio always prided itself in making engaging speakers that were detailed, effortlessly musical, and easy to listen to for long periods of time without being fatiguing.

Back in 2009 I was researching speakers and auditioned many in my city with the same 3 CDs of music I knew well as test tracks. I even auditioned the out of reach B&W 801. They impressed me with their performance and brawn, but just did not draw me into the music. One day I visited a dealer that carried Verity Audio and I listened to the then entry level Finns. I was immediately impressed with how musically engaging they were - I was drawn into the music. I came back a few days later to have another listen and the dealer had just set up a new pair of Parsifal Ovations. They were several levels up from the Finns, and a whole different level of musicality and performance. I knew I had found something special, and I have been enjoying them almost daily since 2010. Thank you Verity Audio!

Bummer - Heard them many times. Really a nicely  constructed speaker. Wish everyone there well.

I have owned many speakers including Avalon Isis, Tannoy Canterbury GRs, Graham, Quad ESL, JMLab, B&W.  None made me as happy as the Verity Lohengrins 2.   I also had the Sarastro 2 and Amadis S which were very good as well.  The Verity offer a fine balance of natural tone, detail, micro and macrodynamics that I find very satisfying.  If the news of Verity's closing is true, I am sad to lose such a speaker manufacturer.   Thank you Verity.

@czarivey  ....good point 'bout children & parents.....

If one gets to spend too much time either involved or ignored by the 'family biz',

you can't rationally expect them to be always pleased about it.....

IMO 3 factors caused the demise of Verity Audio.

1-Cost 2-Lack of Advertising 3-Audiophiles

1-When the entry level point is around $10k(Finn) for a small floorstander that can easily get lost in the shuffle when compared to competitors or even its larger superior siblings. Build an extreme level standmount that exceeds the perceived leader(Focal Diablo Evo) at a lower cost. This would showcase the best of Verity Audio in compact/concise and more attractive package than the Finn.

2-Many Audiophiles need visual or printed validation, word of mouth is outdated. Succumb to the YouTube circus of clowns.

3-Audiophiles are listening to less acoustical based music so the need for a "Finesse" type of speaker has diminished. Many want a speaker that is a Jack of all trades master of none. Eilish/JurassicPark/EDM over Ella/Beethoven/EWF, the more subwoofers the better!

I wonder if branching out into high end DAC's, amps and preamps contributed to their demise.  I remember reading Stereophile reviews when they came out with electronics... they weren't well received if I recall correctly... I'm pretty sure John Atkinson's measurements exposed some warts.  Maybe they should have stuck with speakers.

I received a very nice email reply from Bruno Bouchard confirming that Verity Audio ceased operations in December, 2023 as mentioned above by @toronto416 .

Too bad...  Verity Audio had very respectable speakers.  I had a pair of Parsifal Ovations and they were indeed a very nice sounding speaker system.  I had them for several years until I heard a pair of Living-Voice OBX-RW's which sounded more realistic to me albeit leaner on the bass.  I loved the build quality of the Ovations and those beautiful transportation cases they were shipped in.  I would have liked to have heard the Lohngren II's although they were a bit above my price range.  

This is sad news indeed. I wouldn’t have know if not for this thread

Life is tough for small businesses in audio -- in fact, for small businesses in any industry.  You can have a great product and still not make it -- remember the story of VHS video tapes versus Sony's Betamax?  Betamax had superior picture quality but ended up being the loser when the public went all-in on VHS.  And Sony was hardly a small business, Imagine how hard things can be for a small company that doesn't have the deep pockets of a major corporation.

The good news for Verity owners is that they can continue to enjoy their speakers whether the company's around or not.

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Verity Audio posted and official notice on Facebook on April 11:

I was still holding out hope someone with deeper pockets and some vision would save the company and turn it around because IMHO the potential is there and is so very worth saving.  Sigh.