Audio Research Sold

As a former dealer (1973) who knew Mr. Johnson, I can only hope that the values and products he envisioned can be continued/re-instated.

Since I have not had the pleasure of purchasing and listening to their newer products--my "newest" piece is an SP-6--I cannot speak to how they compare to the earlier stuff.  I can say, without reservation, however, that the SP-3-A-1 and the D-150 were amazing products, and I am sure that there were others after that that improved on them.  Let's remember that the circuit designs of tube amps and pre-amps are not exactly rocket science and that there are a very limited number of ways of doing it in commercial audio products sold to the general public for home use.

Today, many ARC products have SS components in various areas of the signal path.  How that plays into the future of the company is anyone's guess.  I can tell you, however, that I am looking to purchase an amp, and a call to AR about one model with the SS areas was met with the following:  "We cannot service or repair that product."

I realize this is rather rare for them, but my guess is that rather than main circuit boards, etc., this has to do with the SS components.

I wish them well.  If you knew Mr. Johnson, you knew that he was all serious business and devoted to his craft.  He did not make compromises--I remember us discussing the difficulty of getting the face plates manufactured properly.  He told me it was much more difficult than getting the electronic parts done as he demanded perfection in every item.  That's the kind of person we need running a company like this, and I hope this team realizes this.  I wish them (and us) the best!

 Can’t argue with that.  My experience with Audio Research products has always been a pleasure. 

A small group usually brings passion and flexibility in the fold. This allows people to be focused on customer service and excellent sales support. 

I don't know the new management, but can only hope it doesn't follow Krell's unfortunate foray into populist production. Its value (as is Krells) is in its history. Continuing production into a niche market hopefully will ensure its company and manufacturing values establish a continuation of its founder's vision. Vive la difference

few add’l comments

1 - arc has indeed incorporated some ss elements into their tube amps and preamps in the past decade plus, most as drivers and cathode followers -- this is due to their desire for a more linear frequency response/transparency and better PRAT than all tube configurations would allow ... their mindset, which i support, is to have the benefits of tubes (holography, smoothness and body to the sound, mild overdrive characteristics) whilst minimizing the demerits (lazy transient response, poor bass control, low damping factor)

2 - the main product arc will no longer service is the 100.2 power amp, as the toshiba bipolar transistor it is based on is NLA... too bad they took this stance... they could have the customer sign a waiver if the amp fails in repair... most of the time, it is power supply caps that go -- very rare for the actual solid state transistor to fail, but under mcintosh management, they have wanted to avoid the liability (would surmise they had at least one case where they got burned fixing a customer unit)

3 - agree that they may want to expand into the digital space... given market trends... we shall see what trent has in mind - we don’t know the funding situation trent and his group is bringing - maybe they have ample funding to take up some r&d

4 - the main issue arc faces i think is that there are very good lower end competitors now, offering excellent quality excellent sounding products at roughly half their prices - most prominently primaluna - arc’s international expansion and success with their legendary brand name has helped keep them solvent making ever more expensive (and still utterly excellent sounding) products, but how long can this persist, especially with a world struggling as it is looking forward