INDUSTRY UPDATE
US: MAPLE GROVE, MN
Julie Mullins
If audiophiles were asked to rank companies that define US-made hi-fi, Audio Research would rank high.
This year, the Maple Grove, Minnesota, company is commemorating its 50th anniversary by releasing a 220-page book, Making the Music Glow, covering its first 50 years of history—and also by going independent.
Making the Music Glow was written by audio reviewer Ken Kessler, who wrote the McIntosh book For the Love of Music, published in 2006, and, in 2003, Quad: The Closest Approach. Glow contains interviews, product profiles, and—presumably, since we haven’t yet received our copy—coffee-table–worthy photos. The book will retail for $150 at Audio Research dealers and online at audio-research.com. Two thousand copies are being printed.
Now the real news: The company will start its second half-century under independent ownership: TWS Enterprises, LLC, a private firm wholly owned by Trent Suggs, a previous director of North American sales for ARC, has purchased Audio Research from the McIntosh Group. Suggs will lead the company, serving as president and in his previous role. Current Managing Director David Gordon will continue in his current position, and Brandon Lauer, another former ARC employee, will serve as both director of international sales and director of marketing.
In 2008, Audio Research was purchased by Fine Sounds Group, which already owned Sonus Faber. Later, Fine Sounds bought Sumiko, Wadia, and McIntosh. In 2014, McIntosh’s management group, in partnership with LBO France and Yarpa, bought Fine Sounds from its owners, Milan-based investment firm Quadrivio. ARC continued on as part of the McIntosh Group until August 2020.
I was able to speak with the new management team via Zoom the day after the announcement was made.
What prompted Suggs to acquire Audio Research? “Ultimately, it’s to bring back the culture of Audio Research and to work with friends and colleagues again,” Suggs told .
