Why are People Dumping their Audio Research Gear and What Does it Say about them?

Crazy. If I did not have an all Audio Research system, I would be a buyer. Audio Research, in my opinion makes the most musical sounding equipment on the market today. Which is why my system is full of it (see my system under my USRID).

I was happy when Trent bought Audio Research a couple years ago. His vision was to strengthen the brand. When I brought up the cheap plastic remote the first thing he did was to promise me good quality metal remotes for the equipment I already bought. He immediately went out to developed a new metal remote because their previous supplier stopped making them. He instantly understood that it was the right thing to do. He understands the high end market.

A friend of mine spoke to Dave Gordon of ARC on Friday. They will have a new owner by the end of the month.

Hopefully the new owner will treat Audio Research with the respect it deserves and will preserve the incredible legacy of inovation and dedication to high fidelity repreduction of music. A tradition maintained by only a few companies like ARC, Conrad Johnson, VAC, and Pass.

I hope they work on bringing more beauty and warmth to their sound. It seems they keep going in the direction of sterile clarity and have forgotten  the beauty of music.

When I first read that they (ARC) had gone into receivership, my knee jerk reaction was to sell my LS28SE and gather whatever it would bring and buy something else. Then I realized that I loved the sound of this piece and it works just fine, why jump out of a perfectly good plane as the saying goes. Surely if they don’t bounce back with new owners, there will always be repair shops. And that would only matter if it broke. Although I have not been a big ARC customer, my experience has been great, as if I were a factory-hold name, when it came to service. And a shout out to to Mr Dave Gordon mentioned above, he has been a jewel to work with through the years. But I wanted a picture of him as a memento, then I found one, in the dictionary of all places, under Perfect Gentleman.

If Mr Gordon says they will have new owners, I will take that to the bank. This company is too damned good to go anywhere but forward.