Audio’s New Powerhouse: Sound United Acquires D+M

BlueBirdMusic

I just saw this on another site. Polk included in this Powerhouse

http://www.soundandvision.com/content/audio’s-new-powerhouse-sound-united-acquires-dm#Vi1sLRdvEYJsWYdg.97

txcoastal1

I want to start a petition for silver Marantz in the US

vmaxer

Wow, hope it works for the good.

BlueBirdMusic

Silver Marantz and the Champagne color on higher end items in US.

motorhead43026

I remember in the 70's saying "I wish we could get black gear"

txcoastal1

I'm not harping on black, just not for one of my setups. I want a new SACD player, and don't want to spend the money on a Esoteric, and like a couple additional feature Eso doesn't have.

I want a cake and eat it tooo.

txcoastal1

Shut up Skip

D2Lo

BlueBirdMusic wrote: »

Silver Marantz and the Champagne color on higher end items in US.

Don't worry, me too!

pitdogg2

nbrowser wrote: »

All I see is quality companies coming together, Polk, DT, Marantz, Denon...good things can come of this!

Or not. Don't forget when the bean counters get involved quality gear can take a hit. FWIW when was the last time you read anything about great DVD players from Denon ? Not since the 2900,3910 or 5910 series. Their BR players got no articles I remember exclaiming how great they were. They have been pretty mediocre since then.

mhardy6647

nbrowser wrote: »

All I see is quality companies coming together, Polk, DT, Marantz, Denon...good things can come of this!

Like Fiat & Chrysler?

rooftop59

pitdogg2 wrote: »

nbrowser wrote: »

All I see is quality companies coming together, Polk, DT, Marantz, Denon...good things can come of this!

Or not. Don't forget when the bean counters get involved quality gear can take a hit. FWIW when was the last time you read anything about great DVD players from Denon ? Not since the 2900,3910 or 5910 series. Their BR players got no articles I remember exclaiming how great they were. They have been pretty mediocre since then.

that's because B&M decided to make marantz the high end company of the two. And you do see lots of good reviews on marantz's blu ray and SACD players.

The bad thing here - just like with Def tech and polk - is that the bean counters want to keep their companies from competing against each other to some extent. And THAT is bad for us...

pitdogg2

rooftop59 wrote: »

pitdogg2 wrote: »

nbrowser wrote: »

All I see is quality companies coming together, Polk, DT, Marantz, Denon...good things can come of this!

Or not. Don't forget when the bean counters get involved quality gear can take a hit. FWIW when was the last time you read anything about great DVD players from Denon ? Not since the 2900,3910 or 5910 series. Their BR players got no articles I remember exclaiming how great they were. They have been pretty mediocre since then.

that's because B&M decided to make marantz the high end company of the two. And you do see lots of good reviews on marantz's blu ray and SACD players.

The bad thing here - just like with Def tech and polk - is that the bean counters want to keep their companies from competing against each other to some extent. And THAT is bad for us...

Can't argue that

[Deleted User]

^^^ +1 remember when I asked what polk used to test their speakers on?
(oh, and scoffed at)

Now it's a good thing to merge...

mhardy6647

rednedtugent wrote: »

^^^ +1 remember when I asked what polk used to test their speakers on?
(oh, and scoffed at)

Now it's a good thing to merge...

Life works like that. As a former VP of R&D at an erstwhile employer of mine used to say:

Hold on to your theories lightly

Or, to translate this to the current topic -- "careful how you feel/what you say about your competition, since you might end up in bed with them someday."

F1nut

txcoastal1 wrote: »

I'm not harping on black, just not for one of my setups. I want a new SACD player, and don't want to spend the money on a Esoteric, and like a couple additional feature Eso doesn't have.

I want a cake and eat it tooo.

Audio Advisor is selling the new Marantz SA10 in champagne, but not black.

F1nut

I have the feeling this will cause Marantz's Ken Ishiwata to retire and that would be a great shame. The man has a true golden ear.

HzTweaker

motorhead43026 wrote: »

I remember in the 70's saying "I wish we could get black gear"

Because they couldn't find the paint.

DSkip wrote: »

txcoastal1 wrote: »

I'm not harping on black, just not for one of my setups. I want a new SACD player, and don't want to spend the money on a Esoteric, and like a couple additional feature Eso doesn't have.

I want a cake and eat it tooo.

^^These guys on the other hand! This S*** made me fall out of my chair laughing.

dromunds

By the look in his eyes, that guy's been drinking or hitting the crack pipe. My guess is the former.

mrloren

Yeah that guy looks a little messed up.

As for the merge, I like it. I do hope it goes for the best on all companies which will give us a better product.

honestaquarian

The bigger the companies get, the more the bean counters take over everything and the more the customer service and quality control go right down the terlet.

How many times have wee seen THIS trend???

Just look at what has happened to Polk customer service

http://forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/175977/kim-jasper-your-customer-service-dept-is-a-disaster#latest

mhardy6647

F1nut wrote: »

I have the feeling this will cause Marantz's Ken Ishiwata to retire and that would be a great shame. The man has a true golden ear.

I'd concur. hk has had some good ones: Bernie Kardon, Stewart Hegeman, Matti Otala all spring to mind, too. Well, I actually dunno about Kardon, but I reckon he was at least OK.

mrloren

This could go south but I am going to remain optimistic. Reason being is all these companies strive to put out a good product.

At least they didn't buy Onkyo.

tonyb

I'm a skeptic.....these companies that keep buying up the smaller ones do it for market share, and to shore up stock prices. Their responsibility is to stock holders, not a pursuit of quality audio.

mhardy6647

It's the easiest way to "grow" in an essentially stagnant (limited growth) business sector -- which is, at least for public companies, all that matters.

Plus, they get all of those (on paper) "synergy" savings -- i.e., no need for most 'back office' functions, nor employees, from the company that has been acquired by the juggernaut company.

tonyb

mhardy6647 wrote: »

It's the easiest way to "grow" in an essentially stagnant (limited growth) business sector -- which is, at least for public companies, all that matters.

Plus, they get all of those (on paper) "synergy" savings -- i.e., no need for most 'back office' functions, nor employees, from the company that has been acquired by the juggernaut company.

In English Professor...lol.

Growth on paper, be it real or manufactured is all that matters.....to the bean counters anyway. Still, innovation and product development still happens, only the goal is profits, not necessarily better audio. That's not to say the 2 can't coexist, but when push comes to shove, you know which goes in the dumpster. On the profit side, there seems to be big bucks in software development and licensing, and I think that's the future of audio in a nutshell. Strictly analog guys need not pay any attention to that.

I think that's why so many Boutique brands popped up over the years, started by, and run by guys with an audio first interest. Their products were usually above the rest mass marketed stuff in sound quality, though with a slightly higher price tag. In todays world though, seems to me software is taking on the pace of technology advancements, not necessarily the hardware side.

cfrizz

The "Professor" & Tony hit the nail on the head.

The number 1. priority of acquisitions of other companies is to grow market share.

Yes they want to put out new products but for as little money as possible, and if they make a big discovery, they will only give you incremental improvements for several years, just to sucker you into buying that tiny improvement year after year.

There are always people who are willing to do just that, fortunately I'm not one of them.

In the meantime, they will tear apart the old companies (which = staff) since all they wanted was the tech that it possessed. (See Polk's new HQ is now in CA! so what happened to all that staff in Baltimore?) Hopefully they were able to retire or find new jobs.

The only thing major corporations care about is a never ending climbing stock price. If we the consumer happen to benefit, well that is simply a welcome side effect.

If the stock doesn't continue to rise, then they will simply downsize the people who do the work, then after a few months maybe hire new people for much lower salaries. Preferably at a fee for per service rate, that way they don't have to pay benefits. Or even better send the jobs overseas so that they can pay pennies on the dollar for the hired help.

DarqueKnight

The size of a technology company, or the number of bean counters (accountants/MBAs) at the company, is not the main barometer of the direction the company's customer service and focus will go. Accountants and MBAs are subject to the directives of the senior executives. If the the CEO and other senior executives have technical backgrounds and understand technology and know how to position technical products in the marketplace, that usually speaks well for the direction of the company. If you have bean counters RUNNING a technology company, then, as Anakin Skywalker derisively said, "this is where the "fun" begins".

AT&T, Lucent Technologies, and Hewlett-Packard are a few examples of companies that lost their mojo when they shifted from executive management with science and engineering backgrounds to executive management with pure business backgrounds. In Lucent's case, the CEO that ran the company into under the ground had a history degree.

vcwatkins

DarqueKnight wrote: »

The size of a technology company, or the number of bean counters (accountants/MBAs) at the company, is not the main barometer of the direction the company's customer service and focus will go.
...

Thank you!
Craig (Evil Accountant)

lightman1

vcwatkins wrote: »

DarqueKnight wrote: »

The size of a technology company, or the number of bean counters (accountants/MBAs) at the company, is not the main barometer of the direction the company's customer service and focus will go.
...

Thank you!
Craig (Evil Accountant)

Sketchy Craig, Evil Accountant. Esq.

Unknown

This content has been removed.

mrloren

Here is the reason I am a little more optimistic about this than others here.

I live in SoCal, D2lo was nice to give a friend and I a tour of the Vista facility. What I saw was a real R&D facility with people who cared about what they were doing. These are people who wanted to make a great sounding product. I was so impressed I almost sent them my resume for a job there.

I worked for Sony for 17 years and yes I did see what bean counters can do to a product. I didn't see that at Polk, not at all.

If they carry over what I saw in Vista to D+M we are in for a treat