Small companies like these who cater to niche markets should be privately held. The owners need to be passionate about their customers and products while making a decent return, rather than caring about pleasing shareholders and milking customers for every single penny they can get.
@@fencerrandy I agree. I know it’s not there yet, but I use film photography as an example to talk about what you’re talking about. Basically an industry that completely collapsed for the main stream emerged as being a very healthy little cottage industry for people that are passionate about the medium and the products related to it.
Polk, Denon, Marantz etc are not small companies... Small companies would be like Vandersteen or Buchardt or Bel Canto or Bryston or Aurender or Auralic etc these are super niche audiophile companies. Denon, Polk, Marantz etc are well known
Private Equity is so often the worst manifestation of capitalism. It ruins perfectly good companies. Specialist or High End hifi businesses do not lend themselves to PE buyouts. They don’t care about, understand or appreciate the nature of the hifi hobby and its customers. Loading debt and asset stripping is the inevitable result and so the brands die out.
i was in biotech in 1993-9 and there are 2 days a biotech lives for. The day they go public and the day their pill or widget gets fda approval. The company i worked for got played by a boston bank insider who convinced us to 'merge' with another company that boston bank had equity in. Big shocker - all of our execs got whacked and the boston bank's favorite company got control. Audio technology is best as one man's vision. be it Mr. Bose, Mr Polk, Bob Carver, Andrew Jones, Mr. Levinson, Mr. Klipsch,- the list goes on and on. once you give up control to shareholders, its gonna go down hill. maybe fast maybe slow .
And yet the Chinese are wrecking the market with very good sounding inexpensive gear. Electronics can only be so expensive.. the actual components themselves.. and then to the point of diminished return. Stuff can only be so complicated before there truly is no reason to continue .. from a sound quality stand point. There is a point where the extra money is solely a rich man's bragging right. GO CHINA 🇨🇳
A 13% margin on hardware is not bad. It is only the hyper inflated medical industry that would think 50%+ margin is somehow normal. That said 3-5x revenue is what the acquisition cost should have been and any M&A firm would have told them that.
Well, that's what holding patents will get you - also why we in the US pays so much more for our drugs & medical devices (& patent trolling;). Because, line must go up!!
You are 100% correct. Massimo offered cheap products into an industry accustomed to overpaying. That is why Massimo paired with B&W is so ridiculous. One customer is protected by the FDA, the other customer gives you money because they want to be ripped off. Its polar opposite.
Yes sir! You did a good job here. More like this and keep us updated. As a B&W, Denon and Marantz owner, I am naturally concerned. I’m very happy that Rotel is privately held which is where these companies should be as well. Niche market.
The problem is with a lot of mergers is they are expecting a high level of positive synergy to happen. Only problem is they often have a level of negative synergy because they don’t understand the business they have acquired. Often ruining the businesses they have acquired.
And has any of these high-end mergers actually worked? Seems like they always end up failing. These companies stop caring about the quality of their products. They buy others up, keep what they want, and toss the rest.
I have worked for companies that went under private equity _and_ "graveyard" companies. What happens to these brands is logical considering that the market has largely switched to phone+Bluetooth headphones. Many of these storied brands are likely dealing with negative growth. The horror stories are true: shortly after acquisition the debt is transferred to the acquired company and then the cost cutting starts (since all the money goes to paying back the debt). The company no longer innovates and it chases quick buck profits relentlessly. Graveyard companies buy dying brands, slash all spending to minimal "cost of business" levels and milk the existing customer base. After 5 years the brand is just an empty shell. This model only works if the customer base makes recurring payments for maintenance, support and upgrades. I am doubtful that this model fits the customer audio business, as customers do not upgrade their existing equipment: they replace it (speakers, amplifier, etc.).
@@pascalmartin1891 what you said makes no sense. Ok even if more people are using Bluetooth headphones and phones now.. nobody is at home listening to speakers and using receivers and amps anymore? How is Denon, marantz, B&W Polk etc dying? There's always going to be a use case for home speakers and amplifiers and receivers. How's that a dying market? When people are at home they want a home theater system
@@aznsensation44 That's how private equity - remember the term "corporate raider from the 1980s? - often operates in any sector ...Profit/gross margins are terrible in the speaker biz, I think...Yes, the target market/higher end market segment is shrinking due to tech change, buyer behaviour & every1 under 40 is broke & indebted.
@aznsensation44 my son loves music. He uses headphones all the time, even in his bedroom. Most of his schoolmates apparently do the same. If this does not make sense to you, I bet that you are of an older generation..
@@pascalmartin1891 ok.. but that doesn't mean everyone is like your son. I am a millennial and I own a full 5.1 system in my living room. My friends all own soundbars and subwoofers or 2.1 desktop setups. And let's keep in mind that young people aren't the target market anyways. It's people who have disposable income i.e over 30 years old who would be buying a receiver and speakers. I don't understand how your son not listening to speakers somehow means the entire industry is dying that's illogical
They’ve been rorting the prices, while alternative brands are arriving with great value products and consumers are strapped. They don’t know their own market.
Between Masimo buying up those brands and Bose buying McIntosh, I fear that the audiophile market may be going the way of the dinosaur. The number of people who can afford top end equipment is just too small to sustain a long term product market that gets more and more crowded every year. But perhaps the true elephant in the room when pondering the future of audiophile electronics, is younger generations increasingly content with overly-compressed, low-fi streaming. And it's not like they even have a choice as income inequality widens as the cost of living is disqualifying them from home ownership and starting a family. Designing and building the most accurate, realistic sounding music components in the world is completely meaningless if only 0.000001% of consumers can afford it.
Fun fact, before Bose, McIntosh was already bought and sold 5 times, so I fail to see what the fuss is all about. Randy's video is little more than a rant really. There's a reason why the new Elac Debut 3 speakers are so well priced - because not all markets are getting it! Certainly not in mine, where otherwise other brands are!
Today’s cheap, compressed “low-fi” sounds, objectively, thousands of times better than 1980s mass-market stereo and rivals all but the top-tier audiophile gear which - as it always has - sets you back the price of a late model used car.
The times they are a changin! All my gear is boxes up in the basement. We use a JBL SB w/sub in the living room. The truck I am looking to unload at the end of the month has all Focal speakers and a JL sub. Our two most current Honda vehicles have Bose audio and the other has DTS surround. I have no desire to change either. Well I agree with the overall sentiment in the OP's statement, I also feel things at the consumer level are reaching a point where people can say "Good Enough"
Nice work putting this together Randy! I had read much of this in the financial press (because, in addition to being an audiophile and a nerd, I also follow the stock market on a daily basis). So, please! Do more stories like this!! Great summation of a total debacle.
To me it sounds a bit like a big CEO, shareholder and founder of a company purchased a top of the line Bowers and Wilkins system, becomes an audiophile over night. The he then takes a swift decision while listening and sharing a bottle of 25 years Lagavulin with some friends. He says out “gee I am going to buy this company” The rest is history 🤔
I had an old surroundsound receiver that was an Onkyo/Integra. It was big heavy 120+ watts on 7 channels. I loved it. It sounded great had great surround effects, hdmi output interface, etc. When one of its HDMI ports stopped working 17 years later I ponied up and bought a nice Denon receiver. I have been greatly disappointed in everything that it does or doesn’t do. The on-screen interface looks like it’s from 1989. It has a mind of its own. I definitely paid a lot for the name. I do like that it has both Bluetooth and AirPlay built-in. But the receiver itself is just ok.
@ - umm you are out of touch. I built a media room in 2007 had three HDMI inputs and one HDMI output. Guess you were still using RCA input and output back then. 😇
Thank you for the information. I sold B&W, Definitive Technologies, Polk, and Denon at some point in my retail career. It is sad to think that some of these brands are on the brink of disappearing.
Yes, please do more stories like this. I understand combining resources and scaling up can result in better, more affordable products for the consumer. But in many cases, and especially in this era of corporate greed, I think that these acquisitions and private equity involvement are motivated in large part by profiteering which inevitably results in poorer quality and/or more expensive products.
@@LanceB1960 It’s almost always a good idea to get rid of middle management. The problem is what they do with that money after. They should reinvest it in the company or pay for better engineers and put it back into the quality of the product. Pay the lower level, employees, better, etc.
It is sad that the once ubiquitous stereo/surround system in American homes is a thing of the past. Sure, we here are very much into high fidelity sound, but unfortunately, the typical household no longer prioritizes music outside of earbuds, headphones and poor quality smart boxes any longer. People are just accepting terribly recreated music as the new standard, and who can blame them, with the cost of quality systems SEEMINGLY being so high these days. Hopefully the renewed interest in the vinyl format will spark a resurgence of the HiFi industry, or at the very least, keep it on life-support until it does happen. Randy, thank you for showing your viewers the way to audiophile bliss through affordable means, and therefore doing your part to keep music alive.
Video is taking over, audio and that's one of the reasons the audio hobby is dwindling, there's just no need to have a seperate system anymore, because the quality of, even budget audio for TV's, AVR's, soundbars and subs has gotten to a point where it's good enough, great even, for non critical listeners. Most people I know are using TH-cam as their music provider, my Girlfriend and other family and friends that I know have various quality levels of sound bars and some have subwoofers, most don't have AVR's, and just turn on TH-cam on their smart TV's and watch concerts or just let a 'mix' play while they are doing something. Plus, you can get most of the streaming services on an android based smart TV. I hooked my Girlfriends TV up, through optical out, to a Cambridge DAC feeding a Cyrus power amp and some NHT floorstanders that I had 'spare' from my constant upgrades, sounds way better than the soundbar, and it's great for movies too. There's just no need for a seperate listening system for most non audiophiles anymore.
@@SaintKimbo Great audio has never been a need to most. Not even for me at different points in my life. I agree with you on how good and convenient newer WiFi and self-powered systems have gotten, and the emphasis on video. I am a recently retired video product manager and account executive for various consumer, commercial and broadcast manufacturers. That being said, I have my component surround system AND a two-channel system in the family room, and a very (and I mean "very") cheap but great sounding two-channel system in my office, and a Sonos soundbar below the OLED TV in the master bedroom. Obviously, I am old school, as my system do not live on the same platform. I just find it sad that most will not know the joys of experiencing, at home, a truly superior audio recreation.
Cost is the issue here. You wan't a decent home theater setup. Well it's gonna run you half a months worth of your salary. You wan't to start with a decent stero setup and build it out. Well it's going to cost you nearly half a months worth of your salary :( Was looking at inwalls for a new house I'll be building within 2-3 years the other day. Looked at the puny speakers costing more than my entire stereo system (NAD amplifier + very good for the price budget speakers) and wondered why should I buy this when I can pick up the same speakers I already own secondhand for 1/5 the price. I'm no carpenter, but surely I could replicate their enclosure in the wall whitout much effort. Reminded me of when I helped my mom hook up a Sonos system with ceiling speakers 5-6 years ago and we bought some Bowers Wilkins speakers. They don't sound especially bad, but I'm sure I could have visited a store specialising in car audio and found something just as good for 1/2 the price. These brands have all been price hiking their low end and budget options to the point where none of them are relevant anymore :(
You made it easy to follow. There are a pair of B&W Nautilus speakers at my dealer. They were sold to a man in the US, but he never paid the 8k dollars or pounds to have them shipped. A special colour to match his Porsche so I’m told. Back on sale again.
This is big news in the hifi world that needed to be covered. Your focus on value hifi equipment should also continue. You have found viewers for both.👍
Thank you. This kind of material needs to be covered more often. Most HiFi companies are a ripoff because of the M&A activity. Choose carefully, starting by avoiding any entity owned by a PE firm.
A tale as old as time. A successful business in a narrow specialty decides to "diversify" into an industry it knows little to nothing about. Disaster ensues. Nice video Randy, more please!
Clearly a company like Masimo buying a largely unrelated collection of companies was a mistake but I think the most important takeaway here is that if you care about your company don't ever go public unless you absolutely have to in order to survive. The fact that you founded the company doesn't matter. If you care about your customers and/or employees it doesn't matter. All that matters is satisfying investors on a short term basis, which often involves cutting corners on products or doing large layoffs. If you don't do those things as demanded by investors, they can just kick you out of your own company. Eff that. Just don't go public in the first place.
Ferrari springs to mind; they're worth a ton of money now but the feeling in the air is that the magic is gone since they went public, their current cars just don't inspire like the old ones did.
Same thing (being run out of your own company) happens in private companies too (all the time actually) if the founder gives away too much equity, which a lot of founders do unfortunately to survive or just because the majority of companies run on debt to continue growing. You’re only really immune from being run out of your own company if you maintain 50%+ equity and remain private. Then you’re free to run the company into the ground via bankruptcy if you want, if it’s failing. The only unicorn business scenario where you’re safe is if you’re profitable, stable, private, and own the majority of the company, which is very rare given that most companies run on debt. There are a small portion of companies like this that exist and they usually cap out at mid size.
Marantz is getting super expensive. I checked out their new model 10 integrated and SACD player I was shocked by the price. $19k AUD for the player and $25k AUD for the amp. It has doubled from the previous 10 and tripled from the model 11 V3. No wonder no body wants to buy Marantz.
Another thought: we might see the end of the lower end home theater AVR. These integrated solutions are very competitive compared to accumulating multiple Chifi separates: $400 for a combo amplifier, headphone amplifier, HDMI switch, Bluetooth "input", DAC, etc. This is especially true now that TV set vendors are reducing the number of HDMI inputs to save money: having four HDMI inputs on the TV was the way to skip the AVR.
If you really wanted surround the main driving force behind the AVR was the fact that it could play back any audio format without involving your TV. The audio return channel on TV was a mess from the get go with format support. The video bit was needed because the only cable that can carry these formats are HDMI so the receiver had to be able to send the video on to the TV somehow. As for why we did'nt get a reasonable sound only connector to replace spdif well that was purely Hollywood gread at work since they wanted a comprehensive (and pointless) copyright protection system in place where every device had to verify it's right to play anything (HDCP).
@@aBoogivogi I partially disagree. Not with the greed of the content industry, mind you, but one point of the AVR is to be a single point to control the inputs (selection and volume). The TV is really in a better place to do this (an AVR does not control the antenna input), except for pure sound input but CEC provided a way to fix it. TV vendors never really pushed this AVR-like capability of their devices (especially when they were selling AVRs themselves) until, maybe, sound bars.
Classé is still very much around, but they're a high-end company and specialize in amplifiers. Expensive stuff. Boston Acoustics is deader than a dodo bird, though.
Ya, too bad Boston Acoustics exists only in memory lane. I can't exactly recall but as best as I remember, the name of B.A. still currently exists and the name is owned by another company but no B.A. products are being made.
So glad you did this video. I work for Nice North America... Very similar acquisition of brands you know by Furman, Niles audio, SpeakerCraft, Sunfire, Panamax and Elan to name a few. Their headquarters in Carlsbad just like Sound United and obviously our brands aren't marketed to consumers but in the professional custom market. We should have a talk sometime or if you wanted to do any type, have I got some stories to share.😅
Say what you will but the changes in Marantz, Polk and some of these other brands has been very positive. I've never seen so many refreshing changes in products as I have lately. Really love the new design that Marantz has and some of their products are so end game jewelry like (Model 10). Not that they are affordable at all but very iconic.
Yes, do more of these! I'm a long time Pioneer fan, and have been WAITING forever for updated AVR's. They are tied up in that Voxx sale, so give us the scoop!
Thanks for a very interesting post! Yes, the mantra of the day was, diversify or die. So many companies demonstrated a complete and utter absence of sentient thought in blindly trying to follow said path. Interesting to note that Warren Buffett's perspective is: buy value (defined as, producers of good products) and hold on to it. That's in sharp contrast to the merge/acquire/LBO/strip, gut, and sell school of business "growth," in which nothing is ever created except transaction fees and bonuses for a fortunate few, while employees are cast aside like so much flotsam ("downsizing," so good for cutting quarterly costs you know), and consumers are left out in the cold. If you sell your privately held business, regardless of whether via an IPO or sale to another company, own the fact that your vision/passion no longer counts for anything. Count the payoff money and shut up.
That's a pretty bad one - but M&A goes that way all the time - AOL/Time Warner anyone? I look at Guitar Center as a great example - expanding, had decent stuff at good prices year ago - gets taken over by Private Equity a few years ago and the store have no stock - whatever is there is bottom shelf stuff and you have to order and wait to get anything you want. So I just use Sweetwater and they ship exactly what I want without dicking around with an idiot in a store.
I was checking out The Expanse clips (I'll have to go back and watch the entire series again!) and your channel showed up. I'll have to make my way through your videos. Good stuff man! SUBSCRIBED!
I hope we don’t loose Polk! Or any of those brands for that matter. I can’t imagine any new development going on right now. Too bad because Polk was at the top of there game. They had some really good designers.
I have a 5.1 speaker set from Polk that I bought 25 years ago. Heavy as hell and solid especially for their size. Love the way they sound especially when playing music. Deep warm rich but very clean & clear. Tons of low end, again especially for their size, even without the sub. The sub never performed well because my house was on a concrete slab. But I’m currently building a new house with a 3 foot crawlspace and solid 1 1/2 inch subfloor topped with 3/4 inch pine flooring getting sanded and finished next week. Can’t wait to get moved in by March 1st and hear how the place is going to sound!
These private equities and acquiring corporations think things are running swell at the companies because the profitability and thus the valuation is overstated by the private equity selling the company. But the reality is that these audio companies were sold off to private equity ownership (under similarly shady financial reporting) usually because things WEREN'T going well. Then when the corpos that bought the companies discover things aren't great, they still don't invest what is needed because they never planned to. I think there is a similar realization that is going to happen at Bose with the McIntosh purchase - Bose bought McI for more than Gentex paid for all of VOXX.
I really enjoyed my Marantz NR1711. Until I decided to connect it to the internet. It immediately downloaded a software update and has not worked as well as it did before. It used to awake automatically on sensing input and always default to the last setting it was playing at. After connecting to the internet it no longer does that, and all my saved setting change every so often.
Yes more please, this brought me back to viewership of your channel. Audio news commentary will absolutely increase your viewership and would likely be a wise move for your channel imho.
Super interesting. I enjoyed the crossover(see what I did there) btwn the passion for everything audio and relating it to the biz side of things. Keep em coming. Love your channel man. Really informative and entertaining. Keep up the good work.
When Bose bought Sonus Faber and McIntosh, I was stunned to see their annual sales at 20M and 40M respectively. I guess Sonus Faber isn't selling too many Suprema speakers at 750k, afterall, that would only be 27 units. Hard to believe those numbers.
@@cheapaudioman I asked Addicted to Audio in Australia how many Magico M9 speakers they sell (A2A sell them at AUD $1.5M), and they said they've sold a few in Sydney.
@ Andrew Robinson referenced it a few weeks ago on his channel talking about the Bose purchase. You can also find in on D&B and there are several sites that generate revenue numbers for privately held companies but most are behind paywalls.
These have got to be the most important videos to do. With the industry condensing ever more, knowing where the ownership is says alot about what the company's overall goals are. Anytime a name is bought, the new owners still have to prove themselves capable of living up to that name, be it pyle or plinius.
I’d encourage you to cover industry news, if you enjoy it. It would be great to hear it from such an enjoyable person as yourself. I would throw a small caution in that layoffs of passionate audio employees of those companies might merit consideration and compassion.
Thats actually false. Thing is many of the holding companies of these properties are lazy and dont market and distribute them like they did in the 60s-90s...essentially they didn't change with the times..thats different from people not having interest if they don't go where their audience now is
@ look at the automotive companies. Who would've imagined Ferrari, Lamborghini, Aston Martin, Bentley and others would be making SUVs. I dont know anyone in their teens or 20s who wants to build their own stereo system (unlike the teens who grew up in the 80s and 90s). Instead, it's bluetooth headphones or portable speakers.
I honestly don't see how high end audio corporations will continue. The cost is prohibitive for most people and next to no one listens to music outside of headphones anymore. I think the only thing that makes sense is for the large corporations is to get out of it, and leave the sector to the small businesses. You have to have very low overhead to make high end audio sales worth it.
Sorry your feeling down man, it’s definitely hard when it feels like theres no reason. Keep doing what gives you joy, get you out of bed and keeps the spark of wonder alive. ✌🏻 ☮️
I really enjoyed this video. You summarized the situation very well and made it understandable. I would like to see more of your takes on how the business of audio is conducted.
I missed you Randy....this was intriguing to say the least. Our society based on an economy is on the rocks and this is a familiar story disguised as "growth" of an industry when in fact it was a few greedy men selling our hobby and the creations of fine craftsmen....nicely done Randy
I have a pair of Boston Acoustic VR 950 tower speakers. Bought them sometime around 1999. My local Home Audio shop was no longer going to carry the brand and they had their floor model set for around $500 for the pair. I had been listening to a set of their "high end" bookshelf speakers that sounded really good but lacked bass. I then listened to the BA speakers. They were phenomenal. And even though they were only a pair of 5 1/2 drivers the amount of bass they produced sounded like you had a small sub. They stand about 4' tall, have a cloth sock that covers the entire body with a plastic piano black top. These speaks still kick arse today, about 25 years later and I never want to part with them. Those and my Klipsch KG3's.
I have Boston Acoustics Lynnfield VR940s and they do very well for their class. Nice highs and clean, clear vocals. This is a good speaker to look for second hand.
I want to find some Kg3's. They were the first real pair of speakers I heard as a kid, starting my 35year interest in audio. I heard them in an audio shop in Nashville and they blew my young mind 😊.
I’ve seen companies buy businesses that made no sense to their core business. 30 plus years ago FPL bought an insurance company in Pennsylvania for $450mm and later sold it off for $150mm🤦♂️🤷♂️🙄😂 Don’t assume Multi million dollar companies and their leadership always know what they are doing!
Thanks for this type of content. Learned a lot. This stuff is hard to find. I’ve been contemplating switching from Sonos (because they don’t care about their customers) to a Heos system. Corperate readers and uncertain future makes me think twice. Please do more.
If disney is on the label it's not going on my table. I'm not supporting a company that promotes .....the garbage they are promoting. As A. Parent if I have to screen a company's video before I show it to my children.Something is wrong!!
Around 13:50 in, I just had to LMAO as after an initial moment of stupor (since I was super surprised & shocked that you would talk like that to your spouse) when I realized you were talking to a dumb gadget "à la Alexa/Siri" or whatever dumb name they give to listening/talking gadget you have at your home. Got to love how such intrusive "electronic assistants" just kick into action without you asking for it. That was a funny moment. :) Also, good video. 6 B$ loss is an impressive loss indeed.
I love the analysis. I had no idea you had so much business acumen nice work. I think it’s fascinating. I had no idea. All these companies were under the same holding company. I love economics and markets.
What an excellent / interesting video , a real change from the norm . It never ceases to amaze me that massive corporations can make such silly business moves , ya think they must have done their homework ..But the truth is , they haven’t . To manage / maximise such a portfolio of brands is one big task especially in such. Volatile constantly evolving market Fascinating ..Thanks 👍
Medical device profit largely resides in the service contract as well because the power supply engineering (massive part of R&D) and components cost are the most expensive parts on digikey
“Isn’t it amazing to be part of the HiFi audio industry? A world where even the biggest names treat bankruptcy like it’s just another step in their business strategy. We enthusiasts have an unmatched talent for running everything into the ground. There’s this old insider joke: ‘If you want to make a million in the speaker business, you need to start with a billion.’ 😂 Looks like Kiani really took that one to heart!” 😢
More videos like this, please! I'm looking forward to cheap Denon and Marantz equipment! (Makes a difference from my current Sony and Onkyo stuff ... though I like my Marantz CD-53 CD player and my Denon mini stack system (something with a 10 in it's name)
So here we have two ideas One: developing advanced technology products for high end user market. Spread your technology in new makets. Two: developing a portfolio by investments in lifestyle audiophile luxury companies. Mesh them with medicine technology companies for synergy effects and provide them with common marketing. Resulting in the usually greed trap: Produce cheap but sell it expensive as premium product. Lure investers and shareholders into the idea to grow fast. Or said otherwise: The promise of technological progress vs the promise of profit. A Boing project.
Love this content! I work in healthcare, so it's crazy to see how Masimo managed to shoot themselves in both feet and grazed their scalp. Voxx also has some home audio brands I care about.
Small companies like these who cater to niche markets should be privately held. The owners need to be passionate about their customers and products while making a decent return, rather than caring about pleasing shareholders and milking customers for every single penny they can get.
@@fencerrandy I agree. I know it’s not there yet, but I use film photography as an example to talk about what you’re talking about. Basically an industry that completely collapsed for the main stream emerged as being a very healthy little cottage industry for people that are passionate about the medium and the products related to it.
Like RSL!
@@Norman-bone13 and Hsu, Geshelli.
Like family owned Linn who make virtually everything in house; design, R&D, single stage build, surface mount, aluminium milling etc.
Polk, Denon, Marantz etc are not small companies... Small companies would be like Vandersteen or Buchardt or Bel Canto or Bryston or Aurender or Auralic etc these are super niche audiophile companies. Denon, Polk, Marantz etc are well known
Oh how the mighty have fallen. Yesterday I didn’t have the money to buy anything, today there is nothing I want to buy.
I guess those 2 brands do not sponsor him
Audiophiles always make great financial decisions!
That made me chuckle
Please welcome our visitor from another dimension.
LOL Yep
Ah that must explain Joe Biden, i though it was perhaps his Narcissistic Senility, but I guess it was his passion for hiifi!
Correct. Just to prove out, let me sell you a $30,000 power cable, which I guarantee sounds a full 2% better than a $1.500 alternative.
Q. - "Wanna become a millionaire in the speaker biz ?"
A. - "Start as a billionaire !" 🤣
Apparently their customers have gone to Schitt.
@@stevec3526 lol
And Q Acoustics. Quite a new player in home audio for the past 10 years.
@CAM, I couldn’t help myself from saying that.
@@stevec3526 was very good. I never ever ever get tired of the schiit puns
@@cheapaudiomanCareful though, that runs the risk of turning this channel into a Schitt show.
Private Equity is so often the worst manifestation of capitalism. It ruins perfectly good companies. Specialist or High End hifi businesses do not lend themselves to PE buyouts. They don’t care about, understand or appreciate the nature of the hifi hobby and its customers. Loading debt and asset stripping is the inevitable result and so the brands die out.
i was in biotech in 1993-9 and there are 2 days a biotech lives for. The day they go public and the day their pill or widget gets fda approval. The company i worked for got played by a boston bank insider who convinced us to 'merge' with another company that boston bank had equity in. Big shocker - all of our execs got whacked and the boston bank's favorite company got control.
Audio technology is best as one man's vision. be it Mr. Bose, Mr Polk, Bob Carver, Andrew Jones, Mr. Levinson, Mr. Klipsch,- the list goes on and on. once you give up control to shareholders, its gonna go down hill. maybe fast maybe slow .
Don't forget James Bongiorno, Saul Marantz.
@@amazoidal and relatedly, Bob Moog.
And yet the Chinese are wrecking the market with very good sounding inexpensive gear. Electronics can only be so expensive.. the actual components themselves.. and then to the point of diminished return. Stuff can only be so complicated before there truly is no reason to continue .. from a sound quality stand point. There is a point where the extra money is solely a rich man's bragging right. GO CHINA 🇨🇳
Sandy Grossman from
definitive the golden ear
A 13% margin on hardware is not bad. It is only the hyper inflated medical industry that would think 50%+ margin is somehow normal. That said 3-5x revenue is what the acquisition cost should have been and any M&A firm would have told them that.
Agreed!
3-5x EBITDA, more likely.
Well, that's what holding patents will get you - also why we in the US pays so much more for our drugs & medical devices (& patent trolling;). Because, line must go up!!
@@echtogammut Look at the profit margin for Visa and Master Card. It’ll make your head explode. Use cash.
You are 100% correct. Massimo offered cheap products into an industry accustomed to overpaying. That is why Massimo paired with B&W is so ridiculous. One customer is protected by the FDA, the other customer gives you money because they want to be ripped off. Its polar opposite.
Yes sir! You did a good job here. More like this and keep us updated. As a B&W, Denon and Marantz owner, I am naturally concerned. I’m very happy that Rotel is privately held which is where these companies should be as well. Niche market.
The problem is with a lot of mergers is they are expecting a high level of positive synergy to happen.
Only problem is they often have a level of negative synergy because they don’t understand the business they have acquired. Often ruining the businesses they have acquired.
And has any of these high-end mergers actually worked? Seems like they always end up failing.
These companies stop caring about the quality of their products. They buy others up, keep what they want, and toss the rest.
I have worked for companies that went under private equity _and_ "graveyard" companies. What happens to these brands is logical considering that the market has largely switched to phone+Bluetooth headphones. Many of these storied brands are likely dealing with negative growth.
The horror stories are true: shortly after acquisition the debt is transferred to the acquired company and then the cost cutting starts (since all the money goes to paying back the debt). The company no longer innovates and it chases quick buck profits relentlessly.
Graveyard companies buy dying brands, slash all spending to minimal "cost of business" levels and milk the existing customer base. After 5 years the brand is just an empty shell. This model only works if the customer base makes recurring payments for maintenance, support and upgrades. I am doubtful that this model fits the customer audio business, as customers do not upgrade their existing equipment: they replace it (speakers, amplifier, etc.).
@@pascalmartin1891 what you said makes no sense. Ok even if more people are using Bluetooth headphones and phones now.. nobody is at home listening to speakers and using receivers and amps anymore? How is Denon, marantz, B&W Polk etc dying? There's always going to be a use case for home speakers and amplifiers and receivers. How's that a dying market? When people are at home they want a home theater system
Yep, that’s how private equity companies work, it’s basically legal rape. If you’re buying Audio equipment, make sure it’s privately owned.
@@aznsensation44 That's how private equity - remember the term "corporate raider from the 1980s? - often operates in any sector ...Profit/gross margins are terrible in the speaker biz, I think...Yes, the target market/higher end market segment is shrinking due to tech change, buyer behaviour & every1 under 40 is broke & indebted.
@aznsensation44 my son loves music. He uses headphones all the time, even in his bedroom. Most of his schoolmates apparently do the same. If this does not make sense to you, I bet that you are of an older generation..
@@pascalmartin1891 ok.. but that doesn't mean everyone is like your son. I am a millennial and I own a full 5.1 system in my living room. My friends all own soundbars and subwoofers or 2.1 desktop setups. And let's keep in mind that young people aren't the target market anyways. It's people who have disposable income i.e over 30 years old who would be buying a receiver and speakers. I don't understand how your son not listening to speakers somehow means the entire industry is dying that's illogical
They’ve been rorting the prices, while alternative brands are arriving with great value products and consumers are strapped. They don’t know their own market.
I've owned Marantz for 15 years. This year I got a Sony 7000ES for my home theater due to better reviews and its price point. It sounds fantastic.
Between Masimo buying up those brands and Bose buying McIntosh, I fear that the audiophile market may be going the way of the dinosaur. The number of people who can afford top end equipment is just too small to sustain a long term product market that gets more and more crowded every year. But perhaps the true elephant in the room when pondering the future of audiophile electronics, is younger generations increasingly content with overly-compressed, low-fi streaming. And it's not like they even have a choice as income inequality widens as the cost of living is disqualifying them from home ownership and starting a family. Designing and building the most accurate, realistic sounding music components in the world is completely meaningless if only 0.000001% of consumers can afford it.
NAD, Dali, Lyngdorf and several others are still here
Fun fact, before Bose, McIntosh was already bought and sold 5 times, so I fail to see what the fuss is all about. Randy's video is little more than a rant really. There's a reason why the new Elac Debut 3 speakers are so well priced - because not all markets are getting it! Certainly not in mine, where otherwise other brands are!
Today’s cheap, compressed “low-fi” sounds, objectively, thousands of times better than 1980s mass-market stereo and rivals all but the top-tier audiophile gear which - as it always has - sets you back the price of a late model used car.
The times they are a changin!
All my gear is boxes up in the basement. We use a JBL SB w/sub in the living room.
The truck I am looking to unload at the end of the month has all Focal speakers and a JL sub.
Our two most current Honda vehicles have Bose audio and the other has DTS surround.
I have no desire to change either.
Well I agree with the overall sentiment in the OP's statement, I also feel things at the consumer level are reaching a point where people can say "Good Enough"
None of my kids and grandkids want my Marantz 19 or other stuff. I'm 76 and it looks like e-bay time.
Nice work putting this together Randy! I had read much of this in the financial press (because, in addition to being an audiophile and a nerd, I also follow the stock market on a daily basis). So, please! Do more stories like this!! Great summation of a total debacle.
To me it sounds a bit like a big CEO, shareholder and founder of a company purchased a top of the line Bowers and Wilkins system, becomes an audiophile over night. The he then takes a swift decision while listening and sharing a bottle of 25 years Lagavulin with some friends. He says out “gee I am going to buy this company” The rest is history 🤔
The moral of this story is, don't take your profitable company public unless doing so is a no-brainer.
I had an old surroundsound receiver that was an Onkyo/Integra. It was big heavy 120+ watts on 7 channels. I loved it. It sounded great had great surround effects, hdmi output interface, etc. When one of its HDMI ports stopped working 17 years later I ponied up and bought a nice Denon receiver. I have been greatly disappointed in everything that it does or doesn’t do. The on-screen interface looks like it’s from 1989. It has a mind of its own. I definitely paid a lot for the name. I do like that it has both Bluetooth and AirPlay built-in. But the receiver itself is just ok.
@@cconnon1912 you should have returned it. Why keep something that you are disappointed with?
Umm HDMI in a 17 year old receiver? I think you may have time travelled.
@@magran17 HDMI came out in 2002.. I was selling retail then and absolutely sold higher end AVRs with HDMI in the mid-2000s.
@@magran17 I bought an Onkyo TX-NR905 in 2007 that not only had HDMI but dual HDMI out for my HT room to run to both projector and a tv.
@ - umm you are out of touch. I built a media room in 2007 had three HDMI inputs and one HDMI output. Guess you were still using RCA input and output back then. 😇
Thank you for the information. I sold B&W, Definitive Technologies, Polk, and Denon at some point in my retail career. It is sad to think that some of these brands are on the brink of disappearing.
Randy, I really like your videos of this format, please continue. Oh, and I loved the dumpster fire, nice touch.
Yes, please do more stories like this. I understand combining resources and scaling up can result in better, more affordable products for the consumer. But in many cases, and especially in this era of corporate greed, I think that these acquisitions and private equity involvement are motivated in large part by profiteering which inevitably results in poorer quality and/or more expensive products.
And in the end, people losing their jobs from middle management to the factory workers.
@@LanceB1960
It’s almost always a good idea to get rid of middle management. The problem is what they do with that money after. They should reinvest it in the company or pay for better engineers and put it back into the quality of the product. Pay the lower level, employees, better, etc.
It is sad that the once ubiquitous stereo/surround system in American homes is a thing of the past. Sure, we here are very much into high fidelity sound, but unfortunately, the typical household no longer prioritizes music outside of earbuds, headphones and poor quality smart boxes any longer. People are just accepting terribly recreated music as the new standard, and who can blame them, with the cost of quality systems SEEMINGLY being so high these days.
Hopefully the renewed interest in the vinyl format will spark a resurgence of the HiFi industry, or at the very least, keep it on life-support until it does happen.
Randy, thank you for showing your viewers the way to audiophile bliss through affordable means, and therefore doing your part to keep music alive.
Video is taking over, audio and that's one of the reasons the audio hobby is dwindling, there's just no need to have a seperate system anymore, because the quality of, even budget audio for TV's, AVR's, soundbars and subs has gotten to a point where it's good enough, great even, for non critical listeners.
Most people I know are using TH-cam as their music provider, my Girlfriend and other family and friends that I know have various quality levels of sound bars and some have subwoofers, most don't have AVR's, and just turn on TH-cam on their smart TV's and watch concerts or just let a 'mix' play while they are doing something. Plus, you can get most of the streaming services on an android based smart TV.
I hooked my Girlfriends TV up, through optical out, to a Cambridge DAC feeding a Cyrus power amp and some NHT floorstanders that I had 'spare' from my constant upgrades, sounds way better than the soundbar, and it's great for movies too.
There's just no need for a seperate listening system for most non audiophiles anymore.
@@SaintKimbo Great audio has never been a need to most. Not even for me at different points in my life.
I agree with you on how good and convenient newer WiFi and self-powered systems have gotten, and the emphasis on video. I am a recently retired video product manager and account executive for various consumer, commercial and broadcast manufacturers.
That being said, I have my component surround system AND a two-channel system in the family room, and a very (and I mean "very") cheap but great sounding two-channel system in my office, and a Sonos soundbar below the OLED TV in the master bedroom. Obviously, I am old school, as my system do not live on the same platform.
I just find it sad that most will not know the joys of experiencing, at home, a truly superior audio recreation.
Cost is the issue here. You wan't a decent home theater setup. Well it's gonna run you half a months worth of your salary. You wan't to start with a decent stero setup and build it out. Well it's going to cost you nearly half a months worth of your salary :(
Was looking at inwalls for a new house I'll be building within 2-3 years the other day. Looked at the puny speakers costing more than my entire stereo system (NAD amplifier + very good for the price budget speakers) and wondered why should I buy this when I can pick up the same speakers I already own secondhand for 1/5 the price. I'm no carpenter, but surely I could replicate their enclosure in the wall whitout much effort. Reminded me of when I helped my mom hook up a Sonos system with ceiling speakers 5-6 years ago and we bought some Bowers Wilkins speakers. They don't sound especially bad, but I'm sure I could have visited a store specialising in car audio and found something just as good for 1/2 the price. These brands have all been price hiking their low end and budget options to the point where none of them are relevant anymore :(
You made it easy to follow. There are a pair of B&W Nautilus speakers at my dealer. They were sold to a man in the US, but he never paid the 8k dollars or pounds to have them shipped. A special colour to match his Porsche so I’m told. Back on sale again.
Masimo CEO put “Buy B&W speakers” on the wrong to do list. Most expensive renovation ever.
Ha. That was really funny. Well done
Boston Acoustic was famous famous for the little bookshelf speakers with downward faced woofers in the 80’ and later produced car speakers
@@davidcheung6748 still have my oston theater set up with hd8. As mains. I cried when I saw the direction they were taking.
They also built a majority of surround speakers used in movie theatres for a time (cineplex and famous players come to mind)
This is big news in the hifi world that needed to be covered. Your focus on value hifi equipment should also continue. You have found viewers for both.👍
Thank you. This kind of material needs to be covered more often. Most HiFi companies are a ripoff because of the M&A activity. Choose carefully, starting by avoiding any entity owned by a PE firm.
I couldn't care less. Audio is hard for lots of people and there are better options than Marantz, Bose, Denon, Polk whatever. I hate politics!
A tale as old as time. A successful business in a narrow specialty decides to "diversify" into an industry it knows little to nothing about. Disaster ensues.
Nice video Randy, more please!
Clearly a company like Masimo buying a largely unrelated collection of companies was a mistake but I think the most important takeaway here is that if you care about your company don't ever go public unless you absolutely have to in order to survive. The fact that you founded the company doesn't matter. If you care about your customers and/or employees it doesn't matter. All that matters is satisfying investors on a short term basis, which often involves cutting corners on products or doing large layoffs. If you don't do those things as demanded by investors, they can just kick you out of your own company. Eff that. Just don't go public in the first place.
Ferrari springs to mind; they're worth a ton of money now but the feeling in the air is that the magic is gone since they went public, their current cars just don't inspire like the old ones did.
Same thing (being run out of your own company) happens in private companies too (all the time actually) if the founder gives away too much equity, which a lot of founders do unfortunately to survive or just because the majority of companies run on debt to continue growing.
You’re only really immune from being run out of your own company if you maintain 50%+ equity and remain private. Then you’re free to run the company into the ground via bankruptcy if you want, if it’s failing.
The only unicorn business scenario where you’re safe is if you’re profitable, stable, private, and own the majority of the company, which is very rare given that most companies run on debt. There are a small portion of companies like this that exist and they usually cap out at mid size.
Marantz is getting super expensive. I checked out their new model 10 integrated and SACD player I was shocked by the price. $19k AUD for the player and $25k AUD for the amp. It has doubled from the previous 10 and tripled from the model 11 V3. No wonder no body wants to buy Marantz.
CREEK...has gone down the same path...basically forgetting about the people that supported the Marque for all those years !
I was so into audio and in the 90s and all these companies stood on their own. The swallowing up of them under a corporate umbrella is just dismaying.
It’s cool you did a video talking about this. It’s a fun change of pace, and an interesting conversation.
Its almost as if corporations cant get the best out of the companies they buy. Ever.
No, Monopoly’s and holding companies are not a good idea. Remember pretty woman.
Another thought: we might see the end of the lower end home theater AVR. These integrated solutions are very competitive compared to accumulating multiple Chifi separates: $400 for a combo amplifier, headphone amplifier, HDMI switch, Bluetooth "input", DAC, etc. This is especially true now that TV set vendors are reducing the number of HDMI inputs to save money: having four HDMI inputs on the TV was the way to skip the AVR.
If you really wanted surround the main driving force behind the AVR was the fact that it could play back any audio format without involving your TV. The audio return channel on TV was a mess from the get go with format support. The video bit was needed because the only cable that can carry these formats are HDMI so the receiver had to be able to send the video on to the TV somehow. As for why we did'nt get a reasonable sound only connector to replace spdif well that was purely Hollywood gread at work since they wanted a comprehensive (and pointless) copyright protection system in place where every device had to verify it's right to play anything (HDCP).
@@aBoogivogi I partially disagree. Not with the greed of the content industry, mind you, but one point of the AVR is to be a single point to control the inputs (selection and volume).
The TV is really in a better place to do this (an AVR does not control the antenna input), except for pure sound input but CEC provided a way to fix it. TV vendors never really pushed this AVR-like capability of their devices (especially when they were selling AVRs themselves) until, maybe, sound bars.
Classé is still very much around, but they're a high-end company and specialize in amplifiers. Expensive stuff. Boston Acoustics is deader than a dodo bird, though.
One the founder of Boston Acoustics bailed, the writing was on the walls.
Ya, too bad Boston Acoustics exists only in memory lane. I can't exactly recall but as best as I remember, the name of B.A. still currently exists and the name is owned by another company but no B.A. products are being made.
So glad you did this video. I work for Nice North America... Very similar acquisition of brands you know by Furman, Niles audio, SpeakerCraft, Sunfire, Panamax and Elan to name a few. Their headquarters in Carlsbad just like Sound United and obviously our brands aren't marketed to consumers but in the professional custom market. We should have a talk sometime or if you wanted to do any type, have I got some stories to share.😅
@@luckyleavell7 shoot me an email. Name of the channel with no spaces at the g mails
Say what you will but the changes in Marantz, Polk and some of these other brands has been very positive. I've never seen so many refreshing changes in products as I have lately. Really love the new design that Marantz has and some of their products are so end game jewelry like (Model 10). Not that they are affordable at all but very iconic.
Transistor Amps didn't sounds good
Yes, do more of these! I'm a long time Pioneer fan, and have been WAITING forever for updated AVR's. They are tied up in that Voxx sale, so give us the scoop!
Thanks for a very interesting post!
Yes, the mantra of the day was, diversify or die. So many companies demonstrated a complete and utter absence of sentient thought in blindly trying to follow said path.
Interesting to note that Warren Buffett's perspective is: buy value (defined as, producers of good products) and hold on to it. That's in sharp contrast to the merge/acquire/LBO/strip, gut, and sell school of business "growth," in which nothing is ever created except transaction fees and bonuses for a fortunate few, while employees are cast aside like so much flotsam ("downsizing," so good for cutting quarterly costs you know), and consumers are left out in the cold.
If you sell your privately held business, regardless of whether via an IPO or sale to another company, own the fact that your vision/passion no longer counts for anything. Count the payoff money and shut up.
That's a pretty bad one - but M&A goes that way all the time - AOL/Time Warner anyone? I look at Guitar Center as a great example - expanding, had decent stuff at good prices year ago - gets taken over by Private Equity a few years ago and the store have no stock - whatever is there is bottom shelf stuff and you have to order and wait to get anything you want. So I just use Sweetwater and they ship exactly what I want without dicking around with an idiot in a store.
I was checking out The Expanse clips (I'll have to go back and watch the entire series again!) and your channel showed up. I'll have to make my way through your videos. Good stuff man!
SUBSCRIBED!
I heard the new Marantz M10 yesterday at a hifi store, very nice running some B&W speakers
I hope we don’t loose Polk! Or any of those brands for that matter. I can’t imagine any new development going on right now. Too bad because Polk was at the top of there game. They had some really good designers.
I love my Polk R700s. They sound awesome. Very good sound per $.
@ that’s a great speaker!
I have a 5.1 speaker set from Polk that I bought 25 years ago. Heavy as hell and solid especially for their size. Love the way they sound especially when playing music. Deep warm rich but very clean & clear. Tons of low end, again especially for their size, even without the sub. The sub never performed well because my house was on a concrete slab. But I’m currently building a new house with a 3 foot crawlspace and solid 1 1/2 inch subfloor topped with 3/4 inch pine flooring getting sanded and finished next week. Can’t wait to get moved in by March 1st and hear how the place is going to sound!
@@G_Yeatts Me too!
These private equities and acquiring corporations think things are running swell at the companies because the profitability and thus the valuation is overstated by the private equity selling the company. But the reality is that these audio companies were sold off to private equity ownership (under similarly shady financial reporting) usually because things WEREN'T going well. Then when the corpos that bought the companies discover things aren't great, they still don't invest what is needed because they never planned to. I think there is a similar realization that is going to happen at Bose with the McIntosh purchase - Bose bought McI for more than Gentex paid for all of VOXX.
I really enjoyed my Marantz NR1711. Until I decided to connect it to the internet. It immediately downloaded a software update and has not worked as well as it did before. It used to awake automatically on sensing input and always default to the last setting it was playing at. After connecting to the internet it no longer does that, and all my saved setting change every so often.
All of this firmware needs to be open source and we should have the option of choosing if we want the stock firmware or firmware from elsewhere.
Thanks for the video Randy, a lot of people have heard parts of this story but never the whole thing.
For balance, you need to do this for EVERY speaker brand!
I just bought some B&w 702s 😱😱. They sound fantastic, but yeah, bloody expensive. BIG upgrade in listening happiness though.
I got my B&W speakers out of a skip.
Yes more please, this brought me back to viewership of your channel. Audio news commentary will absolutely increase your viewership and would likely be a wise move for your channel imho.
Nice change of pace and great video.
Oh and please do more stories like this. Thanks.
Super interesting. I enjoyed the crossover(see what I did there) btwn the passion for everything audio and relating it to the biz side of things. Keep em coming. Love your channel man. Really informative and entertaining. Keep up the good work.
When Bose bought Sonus Faber and McIntosh, I was stunned to see their annual sales at 20M and 40M respectively. I guess Sonus Faber isn't selling too many Suprema speakers at 750k, afterall, that would only be 27 units. Hard to believe those numbers.
They’re always way lower than most people think. Where did you get those numbers. I’ve been trying to find the
@@cheapaudioman I asked Addicted to Audio in Australia how many Magico M9 speakers they sell (A2A sell them at AUD $1.5M), and they said they've sold a few in Sydney.
Makes sense. Sonus Faber speakers are quite scarce on eBay. I’ve been looking for a good deal on white Venere 2.0 every now and then.
@ Andrew Robinson referenced it a few weeks ago on his channel talking about the Bose purchase. You can also find in on D&B and there are several sites that generate revenue numbers for privately held companies but most are behind paywalls.
I loved this video.... how did you keep a straight face for so long??? LMAO.... Thanks for the entertainment
These have got to be the most important videos to do. With the industry condensing ever more, knowing where the ownership is says alot about what the company's overall goals are. Anytime a name is bought, the new owners still have to prove themselves capable of living up to that name, be it pyle or plinius.
I was thinking of buying a billion $ healthcare company. I’m going to buy another pair of speakers instead. Or more gum.
I’d encourage you to cover industry news, if you enjoy it. It would be great to hear it from such an enjoyable person as yourself. I would throw a small caution in that layoffs of passionate audio employees of those companies might merit consideration and compassion.
There's not enough people who care for Marantz, B&W, and other hi-fi brands to keep those companies afloat.
Thats actually false. Thing is many of the holding companies of these properties are lazy and dont market and distribute them like they did in the 60s-90s...essentially they didn't change with the times..thats different from people not having interest if they don't go where their audience now is
@@O.G.LIL-MANyou provided a reason why there’s not enough people who care for these brands to keep the companies afloat.
I cared for Marantz. But after Sound United kicked out Ken Ishiwata no more
I'd love some Marantz but the prices, my god.
@ look at the automotive companies. Who would've imagined Ferrari, Lamborghini, Aston Martin, Bentley and others would be making SUVs. I dont know anyone in their teens or 20s who wants to build their own stereo system (unlike the teens who grew up in the 80s and 90s). Instead, it's bluetooth headphones or portable speakers.
I honestly don't see how high end audio corporations will continue.
The cost is prohibitive for most people and next to no one listens to music outside of headphones anymore.
I think the only thing that makes sense is for the large corporations is to get out of it, and leave the sector to the small businesses.
You have to have very low overhead to make high end audio sales worth it.
So corporate stuff aside, I ask myself, do I need a hi-fi that tells me to put down the wine/beer/whisky as it detects changes to my vitals ? No.
Ha-ha! So right! My kidneys,liver,heart, lungs and brain cannot take more hifi snakeoil!!!!
I love Marantz. The cinema 70s and Stereo 70 are fenomenal peaces of Hi-fi tech.
All they had to do to succeed was manufacture a decent tape deck.
Thanks for putting in the work to bring us this amazing report..
Sorry your feeling down man, it’s definitely hard when it feels like theres no reason. Keep doing what gives you joy, get you out of bed and keeps the spark of wonder alive. ✌🏻 ☮️
I really enjoyed this video. You summarized the situation very well and made it understandable. I would like to see more of your takes on how the business of audio is conducted.
Definitely a cool video. Very informative. Love hearing the deep cuts haha.
I missed you Randy....this was intriguing to say the least. Our society based on an economy is on the rocks and this is a familiar story disguised as "growth" of an industry when in fact it was a few greedy men selling our hobby and the creations of fine craftsmen....nicely done Randy
Sounds like a textbook example of value destruction. I'd like to think those venerated brands can make a comeback but I'm not holding my breath.
I have a pair of Boston Acoustic VR 950 tower speakers. Bought them sometime around 1999. My local Home Audio shop was no longer going to carry the brand and they had their floor model set for around $500 for the pair. I had been listening to a set of their "high end" bookshelf speakers that sounded really good but lacked bass. I then listened to the BA speakers. They were phenomenal. And even though they were only a pair of 5 1/2 drivers the amount of bass they produced sounded like you had a small sub. They stand about 4' tall, have a cloth sock that covers the entire body with a plastic piano black top. These speaks still kick arse today, about 25 years later and I never want to part with them. Those and my Klipsch KG3's.
I have Boston Acoustics Lynnfield VR940s and they do very well for their class. Nice highs and clean, clear vocals. This is a good speaker to look for second hand.
I want to find some Kg3's. They were the first real pair of speakers I heard as a kid, starting my 35year interest in audio. I heard them in an audio shop in Nashville and they blew my young mind 😊.
Boston Acoustics always provided great bang for the buck speakers, in the home or in the car.
I’ve seen companies buy businesses that made no sense to their core business. 30 plus years ago FPL bought an insurance company in Pennsylvania for $450mm and later sold it off for $150mm🤦♂️🤷♂️🙄😂 Don’t assume Multi million dollar companies and their leadership always know what they are doing!
Money laundering maybe?
@@bestof.luckfellowhumans It's very hard to buy large companies with dark money (unless you're a bank). 99% of the time it's just bad management.
Im a big B&W fan. all this mess makes me nervous. Hopefully I will be able to afford a pair of nautilus speakers before they stop making them
Thanks for this type of content. Learned a lot. This stuff is hard to find. I’ve been contemplating switching from Sonos (because they don’t care about their customers) to a Heos system. Corperate readers and uncertain future makes me think twice. Please do more.
This is was one of the reasons I went with an Anthem instead of another Marantz receiver when I upgraded my Home Theater.
Anthem (Paradigm) is good stuff!!!
So, what you're saying is that buying the wrong audio system could ruin your life?
Yes keep these types of videos coming, very interesting indeed!!!
This was a fun and informative one, keep 'em coming! Thanks!
If disney is on the label it's not going on my table. I'm not supporting a company that promotes .....the garbage they are promoting. As A.
Parent if I have to screen a company's video before I show it to my children.Something is wrong!!
Love this style. Thanks for sharing keep these coming.
Marantz seems to be on fire with its latest products.
Around 13:50 in, I just had to LMAO as after an initial moment of stupor (since I was super surprised & shocked that you would talk like that to your spouse) when I realized you were talking to a dumb gadget "à la Alexa/Siri" or whatever dumb name they give to listening/talking gadget you have at your home.
Got to love how such intrusive "electronic assistants" just kick into action without you asking for it.
That was a funny moment. :)
Also, good video. 6 B$ loss is an impressive loss indeed.
What up Cheap! I enjoyed this, I'd like more videos like this. Thanks Bud, good stuff
We are here for music stuff, but from the beginning, I was like, "Is that a Black Bay on his wrist?'"
This story is better then watching The Succession. Wow my respect for you on your investigation. Amazing story
This corporate debacle reminds me of when Ted Turner, a billionaire businessman, once said that business is warfare.
Excellent video Randy. You should produce a drama mini series about this! 😎
Interesting subject. Wish to see more videos like this in your channel. Thanks
I love the analysis. I had no idea you had so much business acumen nice work. I think it’s fascinating. I had no idea. All these companies were under the same holding company. I love economics and markets.
Emotiva looks really good about now.
What an excellent / interesting video , a real change from the norm .
It never ceases to amaze me that massive corporations can make such silly business moves , ya think they must have done their homework ..But the truth is , they haven’t .
To manage / maximise such a portfolio of brands is one big task especially in such. Volatile constantly evolving market
Fascinating ..Thanks 👍
I so loved the old Marantz receivers. Beautiful works of art.
Medical device profit largely resides in the service contract as well because the power supply engineering (massive part of R&D) and components cost are the most expensive parts on digikey
Fascinating story especially being a huge Bowers and Wilkins fan please do more of this content
Denon Peal IEM were using Tympanometry to tune their DSP to each user ear shape.
I haven`t heard about Boston Acoustics for years but I do remember having a badass pair of Boston Acoustics outdoor speakers' poolside in the 90`s.
Good job👍Really interesting!
Very interesting video Randy. More like this would be appreciated.
“Isn’t it amazing to be part of the HiFi audio industry? A world where even the biggest names treat bankruptcy like it’s just another step in their business strategy. We enthusiasts have an unmatched talent for running everything into the ground. There’s this old insider joke: ‘If you want to make a million in the speaker business, you need to start with a billion.’ 😂 Looks like Kiani really took that one to heart!” 😢
More videos like this, please! I'm looking forward to cheap Denon and Marantz equipment! (Makes a difference from my current Sony and Onkyo stuff ... though I like my Marantz CD-53 CD player and my Denon mini stack system (something with a 10 in it's name)
So here we have two ideas
One:
developing advanced technology products for high end user market.
Spread your technology in new makets.
Two:
developing a portfolio by investments in lifestyle audiophile luxury companies.
Mesh them with medicine technology companies for synergy effects and provide them with common marketing.
Resulting in the usually greed trap:
Produce cheap but sell it expensive as premium product.
Lure investers and shareholders into the idea to grow fast.
Or said otherwise:
The promise of technological progress vs the promise of profit.
A Boing project.
Love this content! I work in healthcare, so it's crazy to see how Masimo managed to shoot themselves in both feet and grazed their scalp. Voxx also has some home audio brands I care about.
Go for it Randy, enjoy these type of videos, a bit of insight of what goes on with audio…