Audio Research introducing 6 new products

[Blue Shadow]

Good news for this brand after the recent years of turmoil, bought by Fine Sounds then part of the McIntosh Group, then bought by senior management and then bankruptcy with Valerio Cora of Acora Acoustics Corporation taking control.

Now have a solid state team of audiophile/ engineers and another for tube designs. They have a new integrated amp a few amps and preamps. All priced in the reasonable spectrum of high end audio 10k +/- 5k or so. Not halo product prices. It isn’t the BMW M-series that makes the money, it’s the regular cars and suvs.

Hope this works to put the company on solid ground going forward.

 

[Old-School]

Lets hope...

 

[theophile]

The future for Audio Research will be relative in two ways. For those buyers who looked to the corporation to design no holds barred components, the future releases will be weighed relative to the best that Audio Research ever produced. For those buyers who aren't prior buyers of the brand, the future releases will be weighed relative to the rest of the market, above, equal to and below the price bracket.

For the no holds barred contingent the future line had better provide at least one representative component or they will wonder whether Audio Research has lost interest in that segment of buyers. For the new to the brand buyer the future line will need to more than hold their own against the competition and especially not be outclassed by less expensive competitors. That is quite the gulf to straddle segment-wise. Can Audio Research produce standard setting gear at a lower price segment or will the offerings be constrained by moving away from top echelon pricing.

 

[Tromatic]

Mac will be happy to sell to those customers who think cost equals quality.

 

[Mike_S]

Looks like really nice gear, even the "budget" AR stuff is out of my meager price range.
Weird, that there is no information about any of this stuff on the AR web page.

 

[Blue Shadow]

Mac will be happy to sell to those customers who think cost equals quality.

ARC has the $22,000 preamp, 90k/pr power amp so they have some of the high priced spread featured on their website.

 

[Isotonic]

The future for Audio Research will be relative in two ways. For those buyers who looked to the corporation to design no holds barred components, the future releases will be weighed relative to the best that Audio Research ever produced. For those buyers who aren't prior buyers of the brand, the future releases will be weighed relative to the rest of the market, above, equal to and below the price bracket.

For the no holds barred contingent the future line had better provide at least one representative component or they will wonder whether Audio Research has lost interest in that segment of buyers. For the new to the brand buyer the future line will need to more than hold their own against the competition and especially not be outclassed by less expensive competitors. That is quite the gulf to straddle segment-wise. Can Audio Research produce standard setting gear at a lower price segment or will the offerings be constrained by moving away from top echelon pricing.

They have a stellar reputation for quality and value. I have heard the top products. They sound like they cost. They are actually value leaders in every bracket they occupy. While topping off at around $70k, other brands are moving beyond six figures. Especially the Swiss products.

That Acora guy seems to be aggressively rebuilding the brand. Audio Research has made innovative, high quality products for a long time. I'm glad to see them get new legs.

 

[theophile]

In the end; Brands come and go. This is another chapter in the Audio Research story. Many have been the Brands which floundered after their Founder has departed. Only Time will tell the fate of the company.

 

[Blue Shadow]

In the end; Brands come and go. This is another chapter in the Audio Research story. Many have been the Brands which floundered after their Founder has departed. Only Time will tell the fate of the company.

And we know the ups and downs of Luxman, now producing some very desirable gear and celebrating their 100th Anniversary. A few different owners but going the right way today. Hope ARC follows.

 

[theophile]

And we know the ups and downs of Luxman, now producing some very desirable gear and celebrating their 100th Anniversary. A few different owners but going the right way today. Hope ARC follows.

Luxman one of the very few to come back from the dead. Audio Research might also be lucky to survive.

 

[Isotonic]

Luxman one of the very few to come back from the dead. Audio Research might also be lucky to survive.

I really hope so. They pioneered a sound. Ayre is another company that pioneered a sound, or you could also say, a topology that produces a certain sound. I just got an Ayre VX-5 to go with my Vandersteens. I cannot believe the clarity. They lost their founder about five years ago. I hope they can survive as well. We'll see.

 

[Blue Shadow]

Weird, that there is no information about any of this stuff on the AR web page.

New Products coming in June 2025 – Audio Research

 

[Blue Shadow]

Luxman one of the very few to come back from the dead

They didn’t really die but Alpine messed em up but good in their ten year ownership. Once free of them and their desire to mass market and cobrand products, Luxman returned to its roots of high quality gear and sound. Of course this retreat was all the way back to just Japan market goods as they righted the ship before venturing outside the homeland. Not dead, but all except a burial of the company

 

[theophile]

They didn’t really die but Alpine messed em up but good in their ten year ownership. Once free of them and their desire to mass market and cobrand products, Luxman returned to its roots of high quality gear and sound. Of course this retreat was all the way back to just Japan market goods as they righted the ship before venturing outside the homeland. Not dead, but all except a burial of the company

That's why I nearly fainted when I saw the C-7 and M-7(or something akin to them) in a store here in Australia at the turn of the century. Once upon a time I used to listen to their models in the showroom of the Australian distributor and had not seen a new Luxman in Australia for many a year. I was both glad to see they had been making quality product in the interim and desirous of this new gear (at the time). I also was customer of the Australian distibutor of Audio Research having bought a pair of ProAcs from him. His system using TOTL Audio Research and Infinity Reference Standard Vs with Goldmund Reference turntable was crazy good.

 

[Isotonic]

Good news for this brand after the recent years of turmoil, bought by Fine Sounds then part of the McIntosh Group, then bought by senior management and then bankruptcy with Valerio Cora of Acora Acoustics Corporation taking control.

Now have a solid state team of audiophile/ engineers and another for tube designs. They have a new integrated amp a few amps and preamps. All priced in the reasonable spectrum of high end audio 10k +/- 5k or so. Not halo product prices. It isn’t the BMW M-series that makes the money, it’s the regular cars and suvs.

Hope this works to put the company on solid ground going forward.

At the end of the video there is mention of a new line, not yet announced, being led by a yet to be announced famous designer. Also that it will be a hybrid design. Any guesses?

When I think of Hybrid designs, I think of Bascom King and Vladamir Lamm. Both of these guys are no longer with us. I'm sure there are others, but famous? There is only one other that I am familiar with and that works in the high end. That would be Jim White of Aesthetix. I have never heard their gear, but I know that they are well regarded. I have also read that he collaborated with Charlie Hanson of Ayre for the solid state end of his hybrid amp, the Atlas. This could end up being a really interesting development.