Bose buys McIntosh

They make quality equipment but it's still massively overpriced. Marketing machine is strong.

After my initial horror, I came to the conclusion it may be better for McIntosh, Sonus Faber and Sumiko to be under Bose's ownership than some vulture capital firm from Dallas. At least Bose is in the audio field. Personally, I think McIntosh has become almost as gimmicky as Bose, what with the green lights under the rubes and everything having a blue meter of some sort, even when it's superfluous. And I am concerned about the great number of dealers added, including online retailers such as Crutchfield. Not that Crutchfield isn't good. But part of the McIntosh experience was going to the one store in your area that was a Mac dealer and having the full experience.

I work in consulting with a lot of private equity firms in M&A. I have every confidence they won’t break what’s been successful businesses for years. 

@mwinkc

My thoughts exactly…I definitely can see them exploiting both Mac and SF into “life style” products. BT Headphones, BT speakers, how about a Mac docking station for iPhone? The atrocities are limitless! R.I.P.

I wouldn’t worry about McIntosh. Bose might trim off the waste. McIntosh’s main strengths are in electronics although they make every kind of component. Are their turntables competitive against the other high-end TT makers? They "make" phono cartridges that are badge engineered Sumikos. They make headphones. How many do they actually sell? They make large speakers, but are typical McIntosh electronics buyers also buying speakers under the brand? Are McIntosh rack-mount solid state amps for whole-house audio selling well against competitors? How many buyers of McIntosh gear buy everything possible from the brand? How many buyers of the brand are first-time McIntosh buyers and what do they typically buy and what do they typically own? I would guess new McIntosh buyers might come from Denon, Yamaha or Marantz, upper mid-market brands. (Back in the day, Bose also occupied that space, with speakers, the 401s/501s/601s and 901s, and support electronics, when Klipsch made only what is now their Heritage line.)