markmc@ncrcae.UUCP (Mark McCulley) (10/10/84)
Heard rumors (reliable sources) this week that several "high end" audio companies have shut their doors, or are in the process of doing so. Most notably are Acoustat and Trans-Audio (Oracle). Apparently Oracle is searching for an investor(s) and may reopen but it sounds like Acoustat is dead. Too bad, they both had good products. Also, Levinson, McIntosh, and Snell Acoustics have apparently closed. Peter Snell died of a heart attack at age 38. Don't know what happened at these other companies. Looks like a shake up is occuring in the high end market. Perhaps some new companies (Belles, Eminent Technologies, Onyx Audio for instance) are providing some serious competition to the old stand-bys.
rcd@opus.UUCP (Dick Dunn) (10/12/84)
> Heard rumors (reliable sources) this week that several "high > end" audio companies have shut their doors, or are in the process > of doing so. (Mentioned Acoustat, Oracle, Levinson, McIntosh, Snell.) I've tried to get some information out of Apt (a couple of months ago) and had no luck: When I called, the person who could help me was not in but would call me back--he never did. They have a paper which would answer some of my questions--but they never managed to send it. Mail is unanswered. Is Apt in its death throes as well? (Anyone back east know what's up?) I mentioned this in mail to someone; he told me that Tom Holman had left Apt for greener pastures (LucasFilms). What's the truth behind all this? I'd be sad to see Apt go, because their preamp (which I have) is one of the nicest pieces of ->engineering<- (NOT packaging or marketing) I've seen in quite a while. I'm not even too worried about repairs or replacement parts, since they give a complete schematic and a general theory-of-ops with design criteria as the fine print in the user manual. I just hate to see problems with the company that puts it out, though the indications I have so far aren't very good. -- Dick Dunn {hao,ucbvax,allegra}!nbires!rcd (303)444-5710 x3086 ...Relax...don't worry...have a homebrew.