Audio Research Corporation (ARC) is a legendary American high-end audio equipment manufacturer founded by William Zane Johnson in 1970 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Johnson, a visionary engineer who served in the Army after World War II, was credited with pioneering the revival of vacuum tube amplification technology in the 1970s when the industry had largely abandoned tubes for transistors. The company is renowned for manufacturing premium tube amplifiers, preamplifiers, and integrated amplifiers that are hand-built in their Minnesota facility. ARC has been instrumental in establishing the concept of high-end audio as it exists today. After Johnson's passing in 2011, the company underwent ownership changes, including acquisition by Italian group Quadrivio in 2008, then by McIntosh Group, and most recently by TWS Enterprises LLC in 2020. Following a restructuring in 2023, Audio Research continues to operate from its 48,000 square-foot facility, maintaining its reputation for advancing the state-of-the-art in music reproduction with American-made craftsmanship.