Audio Research in Receivership.

Sounds like they've been under pressure for quite awhile having over 1100 creditors - makes you wonder how much debt they've incurred...

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.