Audio Research Has Been Sold

[Mike]

Minneapolis, Minnesota (August 25, 2020) – TWS Enterprises, LLC, a privately held company owned wholly by Trent Suggs, has agreed to purchase Audio Research from the McIntosh Group, Inc. subject to completion of due diligence which is expected to be finalized by the end of August. As Audio Research celebrates its 50th Anniversary this year, it is time to embark on the next chapter of its journey in high performance music reproduction.

During the past six years that Audio Research has been owned by the McIntosh Group, it has enjoyed expanded marketing opportunities and exposure to new market segments. The Design Lab at McIntosh Group also defined a new industrial design incorporating iconic elements of past products while introducing a refined, modernized aesthetic. Audio Research products were showcased with the other brands of the McIntosh group, providing wide market visibility in the United States and internationally. The support and friendship is truly appreciated.

‘It has been an honor and privilege to lead Audio Research for the past 3 years’, says Jeff Poggi, Co-CEO McIntosh Group. ‘It is with mixed emotions that we are selling Audio Research. It has been rewarding to work with the passionate team of audiophile enthusiasts and craftspeople that make Audio Research the most respected high-end valve electronics company in the world. Yet, I couldn’t be happier knowing that the brand will be under great leadership with Trent Suggs at the helm.’

There will be two familiar additions to the team: Trent Suggs will rejoin the company with dual roles, as President and as Director of North American Sales; Brandon Lauer will rejoin Audio Research with dual roles, as Director of International Sales and as Director of Marketing. Dave Gordon will assume the role of Managing Director. No other staff changes have been planned. Product development, engineering, and manufacturing remain at the company’s 20,000 square foot facility in Maple Grove, a suburb west of Minneapolis. The unique culture and processes of Audio Research will remain, and will become core functions of the company’s future development. Audio Research’s value of high performance music playback will remain at the center of all development, to continue the brand’s exceptional reputation within the market.

‘I am extremely excited for this opportunity to be back as a part of Audio Research. As former North American Sales Director, I was able to build upon the excellence associated with this corporation. Jeff and the McIntosh Group have been instrumental during this process, and to them many thanks. We look forward to our continued relationships with our valued partners for another 50 years. Being part of such an amazing organization is truly an honor. Audio Research will continue our never-ending pursuit for excellence.’ - Trent Suggs

TWS Enterprises, LLC is a privately-owned company created to hold Audio Research equities; it is not part of a group. The objective for TWS Enterprises is to further enhance brand reputation and to focus on the unique processes that nourish the culture and product innovation at Audio Research. Maximizing workforce talents while returning to small company values will allow Audio Research to strengthen its relationships, respond quickly to market demands, and continue to build some of the most sought-after electronics available today.


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[Elberoth]

Wow - Brandon Lauer and Dave Gordon are back at ARC!

Two such a lovely people!

[AudioSalon]

Great news, good to see Trent back at Audio Research.

[mep]

Wow - Brandon Lauer and Dave Gordon are back at ARC!

Two such a lovely people!

When did Dave Gordon leave?

[Mike]

Wow - Brandon Lauer and Dave Gordon are back at ARC!

Two such a lovely people!

I don’t think Dave ever left. He’s super helpful. Great guy.


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[Dizzie]

I don’t think Dave ever left. He’s super helpful. Great guy.


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Absolutely. Dave Gordon is an industry great.

I have to admit I am totally baffled by the reason for the sale? Was it felt McIntosh and ARC products competed with each other?

[mep]

I don’t think Dave ever left. He’s super helpful. Great guy.


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He never left to my knowledge and he has always been helpful to me.

[Oly]

To me this seems like a positive change. I never really saw any synergy between ARC and McIntosh.

[Ritmo]

Agree, never saw any synergy between the two companies.

Lots of work ahead to refocus the brand. The top of the line Reference Series (Ref 10 and Ref 250SE and 750SE) need to be refreshed or replaced. They also discontinued their entry level line which was a pretty good way to get into the brand.

And, lastly, why did they continue to try to bring to market digital components? This is not their strength! Focus limited resources on what they do well.

Wish them great success with the new ownership.

[mep]

ARC is back in charge of their own destiny.

[Puma Cat]

And, lastly, why did they continue to try to bring to market digital components? This is not their strength! Focus limited resources on what they do well.


It was probably foisted on them by their upper management, Fine Sounds and then Macintosh Group. This is a very common behavior by "acquiring" groups, to take small, focused companies into areas that are not aligned with their true core competencies. I've seen the same behavior over and over, not just in high-end, but even in biotech: Acquire a group that is really successful because they are really good at what they do (because of their core competencies) and...make them do something they are not good at. Another example is Daimler acquiring Chrylser. Look how that turned out.

The incentive for acquiring groups to do this is...its using the brand to generate money for the "stakeholders" rather than focus on what is really important to: use the company's core competencies to make quality products that are compelling value propostions for customers.

When you put the focus on providing quality and value for customers, you usually win. When you put the focus on using the brand equity to take as much wealth as possible out of the company and give it to executives, you usually lose.

Even C-J has dabbled to some extent in digital; look what it got them. Zip. Now they are back to doing what they do best: amps and preamps.

[Bifwynne]

Very interesting news. It just happens that I was on the phone with Dave Gordon today for about 15 minutes today. Dave filled in for Greg, the retail customer service rep. Greg was in a meeting, ... maybe relating to the breaking news. In any case, Dave helped me work through a tech problem that could have been a disaster but turned out to be no big deal. Dave, Greg, and the rest of the ARC guys are top notch.

I wish the ARC family all the best with this new development. I hope ARC doesn't get flipped again and can rediscover its Bill Johnson grounding.

BIF

[Elberoth]

I don’t think Dave ever left. He’s super helpful. Great guy.


He is back as Managing Director. So quite a different role now.

This is really BIG news.

[still-one]

We will see what the future brings. Their current products and design are head and shoulders beyond what they were before becoming part of the McIntosh Group.

[Kingsrule]

Warren Gehl still there?

[metaphacts]

Warren Gehl still there?

Yes. Warren Gehl is a key a part of ARC. Trent would not have gone forward without him and a number of other critical people.

[Jim Smith]

I think it was around 1972-73. I had a preamp that was highly thought of back then, the Crown IC-150.

Out of curiosity, and with some skepticism, I borrowed an ARC SP-3 which Gordon Holt & Harry Pearson were praising...

To my shock & surprise, there simply was no comparison - at all!!!

I have thought that perhaps that day was the cornerstone of my life's work.

So much so, that I eventually responded affirmatively when Bill Johnson offered me a job in 1975.

So I am especially pleased that they will stand alone in the marketplace as a single entity once again.

McIntosh is a fine company, but the connection between them and ARC was hard to grasp.

Onward & upward, ARC!!!

[Puma Cat]

I think it was around 1972-73. I had a preamp that was highly thought of back then, the Crown IC-150.

Out of curiosity, and with some skepticism, I borrowed an ARC SP-3 which Gordon Holt & Harry Pearson were praising...

To my shock & surprise, there simply was no comparison - at all!!!

I have thought that perhaps that day was the cornerstone of my life's work.

So much so, that I eventually responded affirmatively when Bill Johnson offered me a job in 1975.

So I am especially pleased that they will stand alone in the marketplace as a single entity once again.

McIntosh is a fine company, but the connection between them and ARC was hard to grasp.

Onward & upward, ARC!!!

The connection was about...money.

I remember a similar situation regarding the Crown DC-300 power amp and the ARC D-76 tube amp. Julian Hirsch was praising the DC-300 for its "lab measurements", while Holt and Pearson were claiming that if you actually listened to the two amps, the ARC D-76 was a much better-sounding and engaging amplifier.

[Bifwynne]

The connection was about...money.

I remember a similar situation regarding the Crown DC-300 power amp and the ARC D-76 tube amp. Julian Hirsch was praising the DC-300 for its "lab measurements", while Holt and Pearson were claiming that if you actually listened to the two amps, the ARC D-76 was a much better-sounding and engaging amplifier.



Jim and Puma Cat,

You are taking me back to my youth. I owned the Crown IC 150 and DC 300 for years. The Crown gear was bomb proof and crash proof. It could also serve as a boat anchor in a pinch.

I never compared my Crown units to 1970s era ARC gear, but it does not surprise me that ARC gear sounded better. I surmise that the DC 300 used tons of negative feedback (NF) to achieve its lab like measurements.

Ralph Karsten posted on numerous occasions on Audiogon that NF achieves impressive bench test results, but at a cost, ... namely high order odd numbered harmonic distortion and temporal intermodular distortion (if I remembered what Ralph said). Ralph also said that the foregoing types of distortion sound very harsh. Hence low or no NF tube amps oftentimes sound better over high NF solid state amps. I believe that was what Bill Johnson believed when he pushed the edge of the envelope with tube gear when the rest of the industry was moving to solid state.

Thanks for the memories.

BIF

[Don C]

I've had a few pieces of ARC gear through my system, very enjoyable, though nothing at the moment.

I always thought the "Fine Sounds Group" McIntosh combo with ARC was oddly incongruent. I'm hopeful this news is good for ARC and the industry in general. I can't help but agree with the above comments that ARC was particularly good at a thing and they should continue to be good at that thing. But I also acknowledge that their newer offerings are very interesting (GS series comes to mind), and wonder if that would have happened without the corporate family influence, even if only for a limited time?

Anyway, I'm optimistic that it's a turn for the better and wish them the very best!

[Bifwynne]

I've had a few pieces of ARC gear through my system, very enjoyable, though nothing at the moment.

I always thought the "Fine Sounds Group" McIntosh combo with ARC was oddly incongruent. I'm hopeful this news is good for ARC and the industry in general. I can't help but agree with the above comments that ARC was particularly good at a thing and they should continue to be good at that thing. But I also acknowledge that their newer offerings are very interesting (GS series comes to mind), and wonder if that would have happened without the corporate family influence, even if only for a limited time?

Anyway, I'm optimistic that it's a turn for the better and wish them the very best!

Don C,

FWIW, ... the GS series was a flash in the pants. Lots of industrial art work, but not a lot of substance. And, FWIW, I believe that the GS series has been dropped from ARC's product line. The GS 150 was basically a "souped" up Ref 150 SE with gingerbread. The innards and specs of the GS 150 were basically identical with the Ref 150 SE, with the exception that the price tag was many thousands of bucks higher.

I hope ARC's new owner will return to the "boring" days (sic) when performance counted more than glitz and glitter. Just for kicks and giggles, I read a review of the GS 150 and noted that the author said that the GS 150 was much better sounding than the Ref 150. It probably DID sound better. Reason: the Ref 150 was upgraded to an SE version which included many part changes and a switch to KT-150 tubes. How do I know? Because I used to own the Ref 150 and had ARC upgrade my Ref 150 to the SE version. And yes, ... the SE version sounds MUCH better than the prior version. So, ... for many grand more, the GS 150 was basically a Ref 150 SE on a flashier chassis.

Very happy that ARC old-heads are taking back the reins. I hope they re-embrace Bill Johnson's vision and re-focus their efforts to designing and building quality products and giving great customer service. I'll take that anytime over glitzed up products that are basically old wine in new bottles.

BIF

[KeithR]

Unpopular opinion: ARC sounded better under Fine Sounds than Bill Johnson’s last 20 years. Actually sounds tubed.

[mep]

Unpopular opinion: ARC sounded better under Fine Sounds than Bill Johnson’s last 20 years. Actually sounds tubed.

Examples?

[Jim Smith]

Unpopular opinion: ARC sounded better under Fine Sounds than Bill Johnson’s last 20 years. Actually sounds tubed.

:roflmao:

IMO, of course...

[KeithR]

Examples?

Remember the old VT100, Ref 110, Ref 600s, etc? Those amps were whitish, SS-style tubes. I'll also add the LS25 preamp line which couldn't be more desicate if they tried. I've heard the Ref2mk2 a number of times as well and nothing great there - although apparently the gem was the Ref 1 back in the mid-90s which I always wanted to try. There are a number of owners who refused to trade up. Don't forget ARCs attempt at honest SS and digital amps - bunch of door stops now.

The Ref 75 and subsequent amps have easily surpassed what ARC did in the 90s/00s. Back then, I'd rather just own SS and experience none of the difficulties with owning ARC tube amps (that also had the worst biasing experience known in the business).

So yeah, Bill Johnson took the SS turn in the 80s and didn't look back, which was too bad.