Audiovox buying Klipsch Group

Danny Tse

TECHNOKID wrote: »

You are right about that one too! It is sad truth that a company will buy a good competitor with the sole purpose of driving the company to the ground. When Athena was bought and driven to its deth it was to favor Energy market wise.

That eliminated a competing brand, for one thing. Both Mirage and Energy have had no innovative products for the last several years. Energy's high-end Veritas series didn't get any new models until recently, and IMHO, the new ones are nowhere close to their predecessors. In the meantime, Klipsch has stretched its own product line past the $10K/pair price point.

TECHNOKID

Danny Tse wrote: »

That eliminated a competing brand, for one thing. Both Mirage and Energy have had no innovative products for the last several years. Energy's high-end Veritas series didn't get any new models until recently, and IMHO, the new ones are nowhere close to their predecessors. In the meantime, Klipsch has stretched its own product line past the $10K/pair price point.

Now, with audiovox acquiring this entire package of brands I wonder how baddly it can get considering audiovox as a substandard company?

Danny Tse

TECHNOKID wrote: »

Now, with audiovox acquiring this entire package of brands I wonder how baddly it can get considering audiovox as a substandard company?

That's the scary part. :frown:

danz1906

I hope that Audiovox does a better job with Klipsch, than Klipsch did with Aragon.

TECHNOKID

danz1906 wrote: »

I hope that Audiovox does a better job with Klipsch, than Klipsch did with Aragon.

IMO, it will more likely will be worse. Audiovox will surely put those companies down to substandard levels (bring them down to its own level).

danz1906

TECHNOKID wrote: »

IMO, it will more likely will be worse. Audiovox will surely put those companies down to substandard levels (bring them down to its own level).

That will be Sad!

zarrdoss

oh yuck! there goes Klipsch, Jamo, Energy, and the others they own.

TNHNDYMAN

I neither a fan or hater of Klipsch but it's sad to see a storied brand go down that road. It's like watching Plymouth and Pontiac close their doors. You can keep the memories of the old GTO's and Roadrunners but know that they will never have a future product with a nod to the past.

BeRad

I don't have any experience with Klipsch other than my IEM's (which are FANTASTIC!)

Klipsch are one of the few brands readily available to me. I sure hope that they will still be an option for me in coming years should I wish to try out other brands in other rooms. (Polk is perm-o in my main room!)

Danny Tse

Audiovox announces it's definitely buying Klipsch

leftwinger57

I MIGHT OF POSTED THIS BEFORE BUT NOW IT'S REALLY HITTING ME.I'm of a certain age that remembers that Garrod turntables were the best inthe world and where made in England.We know that they turned into instant garbage. Now comes the very powerful Fischer Corp. w/ all there radio and cabinet expertise.They sold to the Japanese and every single make and model of there's turned into a piece of gabage. Yes AVERY FISCHER was a generous man but couln't give a rats **** about the product that was comeing out of Japan. This is way to close for the same thing not to happen. To make hi-end for U.S market and junk for Japan makes no sense....

dkg999

Audiovox makes cheap crap that sells in mass quantities through a vast distribution network and returns a high level of profit.

Klipsch is another company trying to build and sell at a level of quality that us cheap bastages b$tch about paying for, and thus they are respected and admired but balance sheet challenged (at least when compared to the financial benchmarks the bean counters use).

There's no mystery in how Audiovox can buy them.

Danny Tse

leftwinger57 wrote: »

Now comes the very powerful Fischer Corp. w/ all there radio and cabinet expertise.They sold to the Japanese and every single make and model of there's turned into a piece of gabage. Yes AVERY FISCHER was a generous man but couln't give a rats **** about the product that was comeing out of Japan. This is way to close for the same thing not to happen. To make hi-end for U.S market and junk for Japan makes no sense....

You mean Fisher being sold to Sanyo, which in turn was purchased by Panasonic last year.

Danny Tse

Why do I think this is the beginning of the end for Mirage?

Indianapolis - Klipsch Group is implementing a new go-to-market strategy for its Jamo and Mirage speaker brands to accelerate Jamo product development and reposition Mirage as a Jamo adjunct series focused on application-specific speakers, said Klipsch Group CEO Paul Jacobs.

Klipsch will also merge the brands' dealer bases.

The efforts will bolster both brands' market share in North America and globally, Jacobs said. Some of the first North American products developed under the new strategy will be shown at the CEDIA Expo in sample form, he added.

To accelerate Jamo product development, the company is closing Jamo's two-person R&D facility in Denmark to "bring the full resources" of Klipsch's near-30-person state-of-the-art R&D facility in Indianapolis to the brand, Jacobs said. All of Jamo's industrial design, however, will remain in Denmark to maintain the brand's distinctive cosmetics. "You'll see a lot more visionary innovative products coming faster from Jamo," Jacobs promised.

For its part, Mirage will leverage Jamo's stronger distribution, particularly in markets outside North America, while offering products clearly differentiated from Jamo's, Jacobs said. Jamo will continue to focus on direct-radiating speakers, while Mirage will continue to offer its signature omnipolar driver design. Mirage will also focus on bringing omnipolar technology to application-specific "form-follows-function" speakers, such as a planned SKU that will be displayed at the Expo and do triple-duty as a floorstanding, wall-mount or ceiling-mount speaker, Jacobs said.

Jamo will also offer a greater breadth of products than Mirage, he added.

The two brands will maintain a "totally different approach in technology and form factor," Jacobs promised. Neither brand will share core differentiating technologies, though they will share other engineering resources, he said.

Besides sharing some engineering resources, the two brands will share distribution. Both brands previously had separate dealer agreements, but they will be replaced over the next 90 days with one dealer agreement. In general, Jamo dealers will become Mirage dealers and vice versa as long as the change doesn't create channel conflict in a market, Jacobs said. "We'll deal with that [channel conflict] first," he said.

At the CEDIA Expo, Klipsch will outline its product roadmap for both brands, show samples of new products, and by January's International CES, "be in full stride," Jacobs said. Jamo products on display at the Expo will include active, freestanding speakers incorporating wireless-RF technology to stream music.

Also as part of the brand strategy, Glen Fuller assumed the role of lead product designer for the Jamo brand. He has more than 20 years of product design experience.

In other changes, Jamo is relocating its EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Africa) office to Paris to provide "a centralized hub for direct sales opportunities, the brand's first dedicated showroom and training facility, and improved channel management," a Klipsch statement said.

Joe08867

Let me get the nails for the coffin.

WilliamM2

Oddly, Audivox doesn't even mention Energy, Mirage, or Jamo on their website.

http://www.audiovox.com/brands/

Wonder how long they intend to keep them around.

skrol

If this keeps up we will have Chinese scooter companies buying car companies like Volvo.
Stan

pietro944

sigh....this is the end of Western Civilization as we know it.Must be Obama or Geitner's fault,somehow....They've ruined everthing else.

Outfitter03

pietro944 wrote: »

sigh....this is the end of Western Civilization as we know it.Must be Obama or Geitner's fault,somehow....They've ruined everthing else.

I would tend to believe that this is a result of free market capitalism and the mass conversion of our youth to believing that an ipod, mp3's and ear buds are the cats meow.

Apple had the number 2 spot for total market cap earlier this week and also was reported as having more cash on hand than the US government going into the debt ceiling deadline.

Hopefully some of these kids/young adults will get introduced to high fidelity sound and come around as they grow older.

Danny Tse

Upcoming Energy speakers....can we officially proclaim the death of the brand?

Energy Power EM-2.1 multi-media speakers

pietro944

halo71 wrote: »

or....Bose

....don't even think that!:eek:

TECHNOKID

Danny Tse wrote: »

Upcoming Energy speakers....can we officially proclaim the death of the brand?

Energy Power EM-2.1 multi-media speakers

Their satellites looks a tad like the Plastic RM series.

Danny Tse

Audiovox is now rebadging low-end Jamo floorstanding speakers, the S-426 to be exact, to be sold as a Energy-branded speaker. And it's currently available at more than 50% off of its MSRP.

The just-introduced Energy Veritas line is already at 50% off from online authorized dealers.

Drenis

I've always wanted to hear some Energy's... maybe now's the time to pick up a set of bookies and see what they sound like for a desktop setup.

dfledezma

Drenis wrote: »

I've always wanted to hear some Energy's... maybe now's the time to pick up a set of bookies and see what they sound like for a desktop setup.

Try to get a pair of RC10?s they are great! Vanns has them at a very good price!

Danny Tse

According to this bit of news on the CES at hometheater.com, Jamo is now Mirage.

RIP Mirage

Next in line, Energy

VR3

Wow... This sucks

steveinaz

I have always (secretly) wanted a pair of LaScala's....so SUE ME.

Glowrdr

As long as Polk doesn't turn into Beats Audio :eek:

Danny Tse

VR3 wrote: »

Wow... This sucks

Something just occurred to me....Audiovox/Klipsch has killed off the following speaker brands: Acoustic Research (AR), Advent, Athena Technologies, and now, Mirage.