Why are People Dumping their Audio Research Gear and What Does it Say about them?

In addition to the question of continued authorization to continue selling the brand, and the goodwill associated with being an "Authorized Dealer"  a dealer may be concerned about the cost of warranty coverage if the company does NOT continue. Often there are good business reasons for a retailer to honor and pick up the warranty costs for products they have sold if a particular manufacturer is no longer able to.   That could be a significant expense if they do not have an in-house repair facility for that particular brand. There is also the common psychology surrounding businesses in distress and being associated with them. 

Buyers may look for similar uncertainties with EVERY brand you sell and shy away from your storefront. Perhaps very unfair and even unwise, but not unusual.  I have been involved in retail sales and management since 1966 and can even recall one store owner who would initially not carry a line because of how the brand name sounded!  Over 50 years later the brand is still around, but unfortunately that small chain of stores isn't.

In a market as subjective as this one, reading the tea leaves has always been an inexact science.  Who in the late 90's would have predicted the CD, and all the hardware needed to get the best from that medium, would soon see a decline as steep and total as it had risen?  

Bottom Line - If YOU like the sound, keep enjoying it until you find something you feel suits you better.  Equipment ages (especially capacitors), and people age (especially their ears), and there will always be something new.  Enjoy what you have while it works well, and keep an open mind about what the future holds!

If you were a dealer is there any certainty that under the renewed ARC you would continue to be a dealer?  If they really don't know the answer, then they should reduce their inventory now rather than later.  And that's assuming they assume ARC will survive.  This has nothing to do with how great the ARC products sound.

I remember when Sonic Frontiers was going away, I had just bought much of their top of the line equipment and I didn't know if they were going to bought out or just close their doors. My Sonic Frontiers equipment was exceptional, and I kept it and upgraded all of it over the next 25 years. 

When I was looking to replace my SF equipment I wanted something just as neutral in tube equipment, I now I have a REF 6SE, Am I worried, no. does it sound spectacular, yes! Will I hold on to this preamp for another 25 years, probably not I am not sure I will live that long.

But I do wish AR the best, I hope they survive this turmoil and come out even stronger.

Same people that trade in their car before the warranty expires. they’ve always been around and always will. They have their place in the economy.

Now a dealer is a different story.  If they have made the decision to move to a new manufacturer, the old stuff gets reduced.

--Jerry

Some tough decisions arise:

Dealers are about BUSINESS. Clearing out ARC now rather than later is probably good business. Not to mention, it makes space for other available equipment in their showrooms.

I wonder about warranty coverage:

recently purchased still within warranty period

current demos (demos are like open box) initial sales date usually gets full warranty from that date. Promises might not be kept by new ARC owners if that occurs.

buy NOS now? buy NOS later?

Existing ARC Owner: IF you were thinking you might go for something else before the announcement: soon or after/if inflation calms down, then what?

It’s getting old, will there be authorized service? Parts?

IF you want max resale price, now or wait till market might get flooded with ARC, much better/newer/less use than yours?

btw, Steve at VAS has some nice ARC pieces he will sell (if you ask him, he doesn’t advertise them). I wonder what he thinks.

Audio Research has been around since 1970, and managed to weather every economic storm we’ve seen in the United States since then. I can’t speak to the company’s newer gear because I have never heard it. However, years ago I owned an ARC D70MKII and an SP3 preamplifier. They sounded great, were well made, and as tube gear goes, reliable. As I recall, their circuit designs were straight forward, which made them fairly easy to repair. Not sure about parts availability these days though; especially with Covid related supply chain issues.

Any examples of all this dumping?  Asking for a friend ...

I know a few people with ARC gear and none of them have dumped any of it. I'm keeping mine, too. It sounds as great now as ever.

One human emotion trumps all, uncertainty.  It moves markets, starts wars and makes people dump product when they sense uncertainty of support.  Period.

Judging that as rational or not, completely subjective.

When I first read that they (ARC) had gone into receivership, my knee jerk reaction was to sell my LS28SE and gather whatever it would bring and buy something else. Then I realized that I loved the sound of this piece and it works just fine, why jump out of a perfectly good plane as the saying goes. Surely if they don’t bounce back with new owners, there will always be repair shops. And that would only matter if it broke. Although I have not been a big ARC customer, my experience has been great, as if I were a factory-hold name, when it came to service. And a shout out to to Mr Dave Gordon mentioned above, he has been a jewel to work with through the years. But I wanted a picture of him as a memento, then I found one, in the dictionary of all places, under Perfect Gentleman.

If Mr Gordon says they will have new owners, I will take that to the bank. This company is too damned good to go anywhere but forward. 

I hope they work on bringing more beauty and warmth to their sound. It seems they keep going in the direction of sterile clarity and have forgotten  the beauty of music.

Crazy. If I did not have an all Audio Research system, I would be a buyer. Audio Research, in my opinion makes the most musical sounding equipment on the market today. Which is why my system is full of it (see my system under my USRID).

I was happy when Trent bought Audio Research a couple years ago. His vision was to strengthen the brand. When I brought up the cheap plastic remote the first thing he did was to promise me good quality metal remotes for the equipment I already bought. He immediately went out to developed a new metal remote because their previous supplier stopped making them. He instantly understood that it was the right thing to do. He understands the high end market.

A friend of mine spoke to Dave Gordon of ARC on Friday. They will have a new owner by the end of the month.

Hopefully the new owner will treat Audio Research with the respect it deserves and will preserve the incredible legacy of inovation and dedication to high fidelity repreduction of music. A tradition maintained by only a few companies like ARC, Conrad Johnson, VAC, and Pass.