Very sad. A legend. I've never owned a Fried transducer but was mightily tempted.
I would suspect his engineering was better than his business acumen and it's a real pity that some of his creative message might have been diluted by too many incarnations of his company.
Jerry
I feel that Bud's business practices were different, but very honorable. For instance, he felt that a product should be priced fairly, and that should be the price paid by the consumer. Dealers serve a useful purpose to the consumer, so they should be compensated.
What he didn't believe in was spiffs, holdbacks, factory incentives, vacation packages... Nor did he believe in "marketing" as practiced in the mainstream. His advertising material was always very truthful, and then he let the product speak for itself.
As an example, he once told me that he bought a new Mercedes every few years. He had been buying from the dealer for years. He'd simply call up, say he was ready for a new car, and they'd sell him one. He expected that they would make a fair profit and didn't worry about it beyond that. He expected a good product and good service, and he got it. He didn't believe in haggling for a price. It was either worth it to you or you didn't buy it.
All of these attitudes almost guaranteed that his products would not be sold in the mass-market stores or by the chains.
He will be missed by many, including myself.
As for the comment about having thought of buying a pair of Fried speakers, you can still do that.
http://www.friedproducts.comThe other people involved in the company are very knowledgable and I am sure they will carry the torch.
