The Future of Audio Research

**Mike** · April 29, 2023, 09:16 AM

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**Mike** · April 29, 2023, 09:18 AM

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**Mike** · April 29, 2023, 09:20 AM

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**Mike** · April 29, 2023, 09:21 AM

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**Mike** · April 29, 2023, 09:22 AM

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**Mike** · April 29, 2023, 09:50 AM

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**Dizzie** · April 29, 2023, 10:33 AM

Very sad news. My experience with Audio Research products and personnel has always been excellent. David Gordon was always especially helpful.

**Porsche** · April 29, 2023, 11:29 AM

amazes me how this happens, not the 1st and won't be the last

**Ritmo** · April 29, 2023, 11:42 AM

Indeed, sad to see such a legendary audio company go out of business. One of my all time favorite preamps was the Ref 5SE.

Impressively long list of people owed money.

PS - I hope a “white knight” steps in and buys the assets and keeps some element of ARC alive.

**Porsche** · April 29, 2023, 11:44 AM

Originally Posted by Ritmo

Indeed, sad to see such a legendary audio company go out of business. One of my all time favorite preamps was the Ref 5SE.

Impressively long list of people owed money.

mismanaged and greed, gets the best of them. sad indeed

**MichaelsMinute** · April 29, 2023, 11:58 AM

Originally Posted by Porsche

mismanaged and greed, gets the best of them. sad indeed

I haven't followed this closely. What was the mismanagement and greed AR did to cause all this?

**Porsche** · April 29, 2023, 12:15 PM

Originally Posted by MichaelsMinute

I haven't followed this closely. What was the mismanagement and greed AR did to cause all this?

if they owe that many people money/products than that's typically what it is, they have been around for 50 years or so and have a tremendous following, just guessing but that's my opinion

**nicoff** · April 29, 2023, 12:52 PM

One of the oldest American manufacturers of audio equipment is now gone. Sad. In its heyday, ARC was a world leader in tube electronics. However, the Apex in demand for tube equipment is long gone.
Some companies see the light early (Oppo quit making CD/DVD/Blu-Ray players years ago); others are blind (Kodak invented the digital camera but shelved it to keep selling film; Kodak is now gone). As a younger generation of audiophiles continues to shape the future of audio, more of today's high-end companies are prone to go the ARC route.

**Mike** · April 29, 2023, 01:02 PM

Let’s hope this iconic brand can find a way forward.

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**Porsche** · April 29, 2023, 01:09 PM

Originally Posted by Mike

Let’s hope this iconic brand can find a way forward.

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agreed, hopefully someone buys them out and fixes there issues, love my classic 60 from yesteryear

**Mike** · April 29, 2023, 01:17 PM

Originally Posted by Porsche

agreed, hopefully someone buys them out and fixes there issues, love my classic 60 from yesteryear

I sure hope so. I was a Platinum Level Audio Research dealer, the highest level based on sales performance. When the company was sold, I took 6 months to evaluate the situation, had many discussions with the folks there and in the end, just didn’t have a good feeling about things and decided to drop the line. Sometimes intuition is right. That being said, I love their heritage and hope they can work through this. It’s best for the entire industry if they can.

I’ll be honest, I think a particular couple of others could follow suit (none I carry or have ever carried). Just a gut feeling. We have so many great new companies coming into the market and “complacency is enemy of progress.”

Remember, I’m not just an audio dealer. For 25 years I owned a successful consulting and IT company, with global offices and a large staff - all working with most of the Fortune 500. My perspective on business is a little different from many in the industry.

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**Porsche** · April 29, 2023, 01:20 PM

oh, I think the writing is on the wall for many companies in the near future

**Mike** · April 29, 2023, 01:34 PM

Originally Posted by Porsche

oh, I think the writing is on the wall for many companies in the near future

I don’t agree. Many? No. A couple? Yes. It seems to me that when there is an abrupt change in ownership, it’s very destabilizing:

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**MichaelsMinute** · April 29, 2023, 01:44 PM

Originally Posted by Porsche

if they owe that many people money/products than that's typically what it is, they have been around for 50 years or so and have a tremendous following, just guessing but that's my opinion

I was curios as I've always heard ARC was great with customers and I've never heard of them being "greedy". Thanks for clarifying.

**MichaelsMinute** · April 29, 2023, 01:45 PM

Originally Posted by Mike

Let’s hope this iconic brand can find a way forward.

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I agree and really hope they can. It will be sad if the industry looses them.

**Porsche** · April 29, 2023, 01:49 PM

Originally Posted by MichaelsMinute

So the "greed' part was just just wild speculation? I was curious as that was a pretty heavy accusation if not based in fact. That's why I was curios as I've always heard ARC was great with customers and I've never heard of them being "greedy".

yea, speculation for now,, I also said mismanagement, tell me how a company of 50 plus years, dealers galore and many many customers, a cult following for the most part cannot stay in business. they got in trouble 15 years ago, something is wrong somewhere and usually its ownership and money. again, just an educated guess but I have been in the business for 30 years and typically this is the case

**Porsche** · April 29, 2023, 01:50 PM

Originally Posted by Mike

I don’t agree. Many? No. A couple? Yes. It seems to me that when there is an abrupt change in ownership, it’s very destabilizing:

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I agree, many is a stretch, not saying 30, but I can see 5-10 going away over the next few years

**MichaelsMinute** · April 29, 2023, 01:55 PM

Originally Posted by Porsche

yea, speculation for now,, I also said mismanagement, tell me how a company of 50 plus years, dealers galore and many many customers, a cult following for the most part cannot stay in business. they got in trouble 15 years ago, something is wrong somewhere and usually its ownership and money. again, just an educated guess but I have been in the business for 30 years and typically this is the case

I edited my response as it came across more strongly than I intended. Apologies.

**Mikado463** · April 29, 2023, 05:05 PM

long time ARC owner, I hate to hear / see news like this, fingers crossed for a positive outcome.

**Mr Peabody** · April 29, 2023, 07:10 PM

My text to speech software read nothing for Mike's first 5 posts, I'm assuming they were pictures. Someone, please fill me in on what happened.

**the professor** · April 29, 2023, 08:43 PM

Audio Research was assigned to Lighthouse Management Group and in that document it has the following:

"shall take possession of and administer the assignment property and shall
liquidate the assignment property with reasonable dispatch,"

Then there was many many pages of accounts payables that Audio Research has. All filed of record with the courts.

**Myles B. Astor** · April 29, 2023, 10:42 PM

It’s so sad to hear of the financial woes besetting one of the founding fathers of high-end audio.

Like most things, an event is often traceable to several issues, not just one cause.

This was sent to me by someone in the industry and points out economic pressures and realities—that many of us aren’t aware of—currently facing many high-end audio companies The new normal as we have come to know it.

“Supply chain issues have and will continue to shape current and future landscape, for many businesses.

I'll bet they over extended parts inventory levels (at higher prices) just to be able to build, and sales did not match / offset said prices. Then the parts / materials bills
Roll in and they float more on loans, or ownership reaches into their own pockets. And now if everything does not break perfectly, You crash.”

**gadawg** · April 30, 2023, 12:28 AM

Sad day for sure!

George

**MichaelsMinute** · April 30, 2023, 08:32 AM

Unfortunately the insane inflation rate certainly would have been one of the contributors to this as well. That would have been an unforeseen variable that made everything much more expensive to operate in.

**W9TR** · April 30, 2023, 09:16 AM

I lived in Minnesota for many years and got to know several of the people at AR and the design consultants that Audio Research used for their products. Good people.

Lighthouse is a turnaround management company, so we’ll see what they can pull off.

It’s not over till it’s over.

What this tells me is that AR was unable to find a buyer willing to take on their debt.
So they will restructure under one of the provisions of the US Bankruptcy code.
The company is worth more as an operating entity than the sum of its assets.

So a chapter 11 reorganization is still possible, although the wording in the documents does talk about asset liquidation, which means a Chapter 7 filing and total shutdown.

**Alpinist** · April 30, 2023, 12:12 PM

I loved my ARC Ref 10, the best preamp I ever owned. I always had great conversations with Dave Gordon as well. I hope that they are able to find a new owner and restructure their debt, although these documents seem to indicate a liquidation of assets, settlement with creditors and a cessation of operations.

**Golum** · April 30, 2023, 12:25 PM

Ajajajajja what a sad sad information....always loved their history, equipment and most of all sound. They brought many hours of joy to my living room...total crap...

**nicoff** · April 30, 2023, 12:50 PM

Originally Posted by Golum

Ajajajajja what a sad sad information....always loved their history, equipment and most of all sound. They brought many hours of joy to my living room...total crap...

Interesting take. This post can be read as: Big Laugh ("Ajajajajja") plus Ironic Nostalgic Comments ("loved story", "great sound", "joy") then finish with the Real Thinking about the product ("total crap")

Lost in translation maybe?

**Golum** · April 30, 2023, 12:57 PM

Originally Posted by nicoff

Interesting take. This post can be read as: Big Laugh ("Ajajajajja") plus Ironic Nostalgic Comments ("loved story", "great sound", "joy") then finish with the Real Thinking ("total crap")

Lost in translation maybe?

Wrong reading - there is no laugh and no irony....just deeply saddened with the info above as i more or less started my proper HiFi journey with ARC VSi 55 and then LS2b, VS110, VS115, LS16mk2, Ref6, Ref75...so i do hope with some miracle they manage to overcome this.

**nicoff** · April 30, 2023, 04:09 PM

Originally Posted by Golum

Wrong reading - there is no laugh and no irony....just deeply saddened with the info above as i more or less started my proper HiFi journey with ARC VSi 55 and then LS2b, VS110, VS115, LS16mk2, Ref6, Ref75...so i do hope with some miracle they manage to overcome this.

All good! The punctuation threw me off...

IMG_3251.PNG

**Commish** · April 30, 2023, 04:34 PM

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.

**SCAudiophile** · April 30, 2023, 04:42 PM

This is great news, and it is very good to see that ARC, you, and the team will continue in the future.

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**the professor** · April 30, 2023, 05:09 PM

Good luck on the re-organization.

**Mike** · April 30, 2023, 05:19 PM

This is wonderful news Dave. Turn the page on this bad chapter and move forward with success.

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**MichaelsMinute** · April 30, 2023, 05:59 PM

Originally Posted by Commish

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.

Fantastic news. Thanks for updating us.

There are many people - even NON-AR owners such as myself wishing you the best of luck!

**Dizzie** · April 30, 2023, 06:29 PM

Wishing a very successful future for Audio Research Corporation.

**Porsche** · April 30, 2023, 07:10 PM

hopefully it works out, good luck

**Ritmo** · April 30, 2023, 07:36 PM

Thanks for the update Dave!

Great to know that there is activity behind the scenes to support your customers and keep the company alive. I just hope that the remaining team has the opportunity to keep the company moving forward.

Wish you and the rest of the team the best. I realize it’s a bit difficult to share information as ARC is reorganizing and, hopefully, is able to find a good buyer. However; please make sure customers are kept informed.

Best to you and the ARC team!

**Mr Peabody** · April 30, 2023, 11:11 PM

Is it true that some of the people on the creditors list is there in error and not every one on the list is owed money?

Originally Posted by Commish

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.

**tennisdoc40@gmail.com** · May 1, 2023, 09:10 AM

After 25 years of spectral solid state, my interest was an AR integrated. The dealer had reservations about the purchase. The new management was from sales, and didn’t have a track record in management. That was two years ago

**Nikhil** · May 2, 2023, 03:30 AM

Sad news indeed. I hope that ARC finds a way forward.

.

**crwilli** · May 2, 2023, 07:20 AM

Originally Posted by Mr Peabody

Is it true that some of the people on the creditors list is there in error and not every one on the list is owed money?

I don’t know but I agree with a thought I read elsewhere - the list looks more a data dump from their ERP system.

**TomS** · May 2, 2023, 09:12 AM

Originally Posted by crwilli

I don’t know but I agree with a thought I read elsewhere - the list looks more a data dump from their ERP system.

Yes, it looks like an accounts payable table, which would be anyone who was ever set up to be paid anything by the company. Very different ...

I wish them well, iconic brand that it is, and I've owned several nice pieces of theirs over the years.

**nicoff** · May 3, 2023, 12:48 PM

Originally Posted by TomS

Yes, it looks like an accounts payable table, which would be anyone who was ever set up to be paid anything by the company. Very different ...

I wish them well, iconic brand that it is, and I've owned several nice pieces of theirs over the years.

It may be a Vendors List as opposed to an Accounts Payable table. The Vendors list shows all vendors (old and current); whereas the Accounts Payable list would only show folks that are owed money at the time the list is printed.

**the professor** · May 3, 2023, 01:49 PM

Obviously only guessing, but . . . .

Typically a first filing will put everybody they can on the list to make sure everybody has notice that something is going on. Ultimately, under a reorganization debts are paid - even if it might take a while to do so.

Who knows, maybe the reason for the reorganization has to do with the business office/accounting being so disorganized that they don't even know what they owe. I was involved with a luxury apartment building that this was the case. When we went in, we had no clue what leases the residents even had. The apartments were making money but was so poorly run business wise that nobody knew it.

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