Audio Research Sold

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

The dirty little secret is that Audio Research has been not been profitable for some years now! That is why the McIntosh Group was willing to let it go! We here in the USA are now in the worst economic crisis since the 1930's! Nobody needs four and five figure HiFi gear! The Boomers fueled the appearance and rise of the High End. Now we are all getting older and dying off! Younger people with less income and debt burdens are not interested in expensive gear. The failure of companies selling costly gear to attract a broader customer base leaves them vulnerable to economic downturns!

I am totally happy about the sale.  I don't think I would purchase another ARC product if they stayed with McIntosh.  I am more interested in audio quality than a "lifestyle" product.   The sale will allow McIntosh to develop more products for the masses like Bose, Klipsch and Marantz - they will be successful in that market.  Maybe they will develop McIntosh earbuds.  It will allow ARC to get back to basics.

It's pretty darn obvious that a couple of things are going on here.

Many small, successful, quality audio operations have been snapped up by conglomerates over the years.  A few of them have subsequently gone independent again, often taken over by some of the original principals or people associated with the original company.

As stated, if a conglomerate is willing to part with an asset, it's because it's not (sufficiently) profitable.  The reason is no doubt the economy, but also the recent and much less customer-friendly ethos that characterized the brand when under the umbrella of the conglomerate.

If ARC is to flourish, it needs to go back to its roots, both technologically in in respect to customer relations.

Here’s hoping for a huge ARC Clearance Sale!!!
Consolidation of the marketplace is happening before our ears.
Retailers closing; manufacturers going online-direct, their reps being leapfrogged; FEDEX drivers herniated by daily deliveries and  pickups of 80lb amps and 200lb+ speakers.
The laws of evolution apply even to capitalist audiophiles—the strong buy out the weak, compromises are made and we consumers will once again adjust and carry on.
ARC:
This is truly an ironic turn of events. In the 70s, the store owner where I worked swore that Mac had the best design and construction and that, since there is no difference in the sound of amplifiers, ARC was an unnecessary indulgence of the majority of the sales staff that could hear the difference and wanted to sell it. You have not lived until you’ve driven a pair of big Maggies with a Mac 2105 going near clipping! Talk about a can o’nails! Even worse was the owner’s fascination with the same amp driving 4 ESS Heils. Maybe that’s where my tinnitus comes from--I thought it was the Army.
We took on the ARC line and did well with it but the controversy over the sound of amps never disappeared. The owner actually DID disappear one day circa 1980, never to be heard from since.