Two pieces of similar news have been circulating around the virtual water coolers of late and even a cursory glance at what’s being ‘reported’ tells a tale of schadenfreude, telephone, and interpretation.
On April 6, 2023 MQA Ltd. announced that it was entering administration, the UK equivalent of filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the US and on April 4, 2023 Audio Research Corporation (ARC) filed for Assignment for the benefit of the creditors (ABC), a voluntary alternative to formal bankruptcy proceedings that transfers all of the assets from a debtor to a trust for liquidating and distributing its assets.
In each case, the respective filing does not mean that MQA and ARC are out of business. Darko and I covered this MQA-related news in a recent podcast, pointing out that contrary to some reporting online, MQA was in fact still conducting business (as is ARC). Another way to make the same point is to simply point out that filing for bankruptcy or ABC does not mean a company has shut its doors, ceased to exist, or otherwise deceased.
If you look around hifi forums, something I am loath to do, you’ll see all manner of schadenfreude, telephone, and interpretation with MQA-haters reveling in the company’s demise, using their filing as proof the company is ‘dead’, while some of these same people interpret the ARC news as a way for the company to deal with debt, find a buyer, and come out all the better for it (something that bankruptcy and related filings can accomplish). The facts of these matters is no one outside of the companies know, for certain, what the outcomes will be—at present. We can guess, assume, and hint at insider info, but the facts of the matter concerning the future are few and far between.
No matter what we think about MQA and ARC, I hope, against seemingly overwhelming odds, that the hifi community can step away from petty trivialities and extend our best wishes to the people behind these companies. Digging graves hoping for death reflects poorly on one’s character.