As a Tag supporter for a few years now, and an owner of the wonderful AV32R-192bp pre amp and CDT20R CD Transport, this is an extremely sad day.
It's sad, not only for Mclaren's many loyal customers across the globe, but for the many talented and dedicated employees that helped make the company what it was in delivering truly astounding products to the home theatre market. It also goes without saying that this is also proves to be an absolutely devastating blow to the British high-end hi-fi industry.
Tag's CEO, Dr Udo Zucker, has in recent weeks been curiously cryptic (more so than usual
) in addressing logical questions and concerns posed by the customers on the owners forum. These were not concerns for the companies grasp of the audio markets you understand, because as far as most of us were concerned this is where their strength is/was, and both the AV32R and AV192R are absolutely outstanding pre-amps.
All of their products were remarkable; The pre amps, the power amps, the CD transports and so on. However, the recent concerns have really been with their DVD32R DVD player, or more to the point, the company’s general stance on SACD and DVDA.
In light of some of the odd things Dr Zucker had been posting in the last week ("Proceed is dead, we're still going"), my friend and I were talking on Friday and I remarked that if they fail to re-evaluate their perception of where the consumer demands for DVD players is now heading then there may be trouble ahead. Of course, we never thought last week such trouble would be as serious as Tag dropping out of the market all together, especially so soon after the launch of the AV192R and the announcement of various new hardware and software upgrades.
"What is this boy to do?" I now ask myself... I think ultimately I will be turning to Meridian at some point next year. There's Lexicon, but even the MC12 has failed to please me in some musical areas where Tag and Meridian shine oh so brightly. That said, of course I will demo the MC12 again, and even the MC8 (however I am unsure whether the latter would satisfy the demands Mclaren has forced me to make in looking for future proof and fully upgradeable products). I do honestly see myself coughing up for a Meridian 861 sooner or later.
So then, with my current demands of my home theatre being what they are now, I feel that I can hold on to my AV32R and CD Transport for some time yet. I will even keep an eye open for low prices on their power amps and possibly even the DVD32R itself (it remains one of the best DVD players on the planet). One possibility is that I do indeed seek out some Tag bargains and keep everything as a high-end second home theatre in the living room whilst turning elsewhere for products to fuel my main theatre.
Strange times.
Daniel (UK)
