audio research sells out good or bad ?

Whats wrong with McIntosh, since they were taken over the people involved are the same. Yes some have retired. I think the components they make sound way better than the past and the cabinets the components are in look better and are made better.

The end of yet, another era. I have owned ARC gear for 25 years and i will not part with what i have. Thank goodness GNS and Steve Huntley is around to mod the old stuff and make them sound AWESOME.
Unfortunately, Bill Johnson is 80 something and this business had become too big for a one man show and he has no kids of his own who could carry the torch. Will see what the future holds..........

All the key ppl are staying with the company. Mr. Johnson was not a chef designer anymore anyway - he moved to sunny California several years ago.

One can look at these change of ownerships different ways. An investment firm buying a private company doesn't necessarily mean the end of what made that company great. Smart management will see the value of preserving the core principles of the company because this is what their reputation (brand) is built on. Often new ownership means cash infusion for R&D, modernization, quality control--and new energy. Companies can get complacent, lazy, smug, or simply lose their way. With sharp new management, a company be revitalized, build upon old successes and go in new directions. High-end audio is a precious, niche market generating comparatively small profits. No investment firm is going to buy a company like ARC with expectations of selling product into Best Buy and Circuit City. More likely, they'll help the company expand its product line and distribution channels a bit, and operate more efficiently. So how is that bad?

Output555 is right on the money........cash infusion for R&D might give us better and most likely more affordable products in the future.