Harman To Acquire B&W, Denon, Polk And Marantz From Masimo In $350 Million Deal

@kofibaffour + 1

some very intriguing opinions by @yesiam_a_pirate @kofibaffour and others...it does seem apparent that traditional two-channel audio is aging out and that home theater is being supplanted by sonos/wireless and soundbars (all of which have improved considerably). i recently went shopping for a new mid-tier avr and was struck by how flimsy and aesthetically unimaginative most of the mainstream models are--the current yamaha and onkyo were notably more plasticy and less substantial than their forebearers. the marantz avrs, despite a very substantial price premium, seemed like same generic product with a fancier faceplate. i do note that jbl has a newish line of visually appealing, affordable avrs, though i can't speak to their sound quality.

PS Audio & Focal, I'm good!

@fertguy Focal is good because of their portable devices like the Wired Headphones and Wireless Headphones. Not because of their two channel stuff. 

If they didn’t have those divisions, they’re be struggling too. As for PS Audio, most of their money is from their music production/label end.

Just pray they don’t end up being unprofitable. It has gone bankrupt before

Very large corporations owning small audio brands isnt a great plan.  I worked at one of the bradns mentioned during the early 90s and while it was wonderul staff and wonderful internal people, the management above seemed very motivated by stock values and getting the stock performance up.  The goal of such companies can shift in such a dynamic from great product to profitable product.  Theoretically great product should be profitable, but not always.  The challenge is product development cycles are long and the investment cycle is short,  which forces some manufacturers to pass on longer product development when it cannot contribute to a positive cash flow within the quarter.  I’ve seen this at work in smaller brands that get absorbed into larger ones.    

Brad