Audio Research in Receivership.

I do find it surprising that ARC, facing such financial trouble, would be shelling out $50,000 or more to attend Axpona. I realize they shared expenses with Wadax but after you pay for shipping gear, hotel rooms, entertainment expense, I bet it was 50K easy. Gear does not get sold at Axpona, particularly when you are not showing new product. 

A lot of moving parts here. Taking the high ground, ARC may have stood firmly by their origional mission statement and operated as such, long after "the numbers" didn’t align with those objectives.

As far as Axpona is concerned, there may have been opportunities there that were under the radar, such as having the "right" people in the "right" place at the "right" time -- potential buyers of the business? Or, it could have just been a proper Swan Song for a company that’s been a major contributor to high end audio for generations?

Hoping the owners land on their feet, or a the very least, get out of this alive. Some don’t.

Our HT integrator's sales mgr. just told me on Friday that 2 Chanel audio sales are tanking nationwide. HT is still doing okay, but the "listening room" reference system sales are way down.

In my view a brand with this sort of value will get bought by one of the HiFi aggregator companies that are rapidly buying up many other iconic brands. It won't go away completely, but it will be something very different from what it is today. As someone previously said, it's to be expected with these types of small, closely-held businesses. 

As just one example, my Ref 150 SE which I purchased new in 2017 has a design problem with in-rush current on start-up. It is not a question of if, but when, as to the input fuse blowing and taking the board out with it. The successor 160M, 160S, and 80S implemented a relay-circuit with soft-start.

@fsonicsmith1 There is an inexpensive device called a current inrush limiter that is a kind of thermister. Any technician can install one in minutes. We've been using them for decades. When cold it has a higher resistance; when you turn the amp on, the current thru it causes the resistance to drop as it heats. Very simple and reliable.

I think you are right about the KT150. IMO if you're going to use an amp using hi powered pentode power tubes, the KT88 is still the best option- there are good quality KT88s available from JJ.