"take that wonderful technology and try to make a more affordable product." For example, Linear Tube Audio worked with David Berning and did that with his ZOTL technique.
MBL Insolvent
I apologize if someone else has started a thread I missed, but reports indicate that MBL has initiated insolvency proceedings under German law. Not all businesses succeed- its a feature not a bug in a free enterprise system- but hopefully new investors will come in and save the company. This seems to be following the way of Audio Research (fortunately saved) and others-lots of uncertainty surrounding Dartzeel, Krell, etc, which is unfortunate. So many of these manufacturers are small businesses, obviously without huge capital reserves and sometimes without a good succession plan when the founders move on. I hope MBL successfully restructures, it makes great products. I think we all benefit from a healthy, vibrant group at the top end that has the resources to create and innovate. Good luck MBL.
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One thing that seems to be missing from a lot of high end manufacturer’s business plan is this: offering a product that qualifies as "value for money".
There are a lot of really good high end pieces that have interest to the hobbyist, until the price tag is looked at. Then the typical hobbyist smiles and walk away. Not so much (although this is certainly an issue with many) because the piece in question is unaffordable, but more because the purchase decision is altered by the fact that the price asked is simply not reasonable for what is being offered. We have folks in the high end audio business who believe that their goods are worth whatever price they ask for it, because there are people who can afford it....IMO, that is a fundamental business error. One which I believe the principals at MBL had. |
The late John Strohbeen of Ohm Acoustics once wrote an article on the site where he indicated his admiration for mbl speakers indicating they were one of few that sounded right to him (other than his own Walsh CLS design) and took great pride in providing more affordable products cut from a similar mold. His goal it seemed was always to deliver the best sound possible for an affordable price to as many music lovers as possible. Also interesting to note that Ohm Walsh speaker prices both used and new seem to have soared in recent years. |
Sad news indeed. We don’t know what went wrong and it is not fair to second guess their business decisions that got them to this point. Even though I did not like all aspects of their sound (a touch too hard and metallic sounding), they certainly did other things well (imaging and having a wide sweet spot. From a purely sonic perspective, they deserved a place in the market. I bet someone will buy the design and this design will remain in the market in some form. |
@kerrybh well said and good riposte to JasonBourne's ultimatum Ultimately value is in the eye of the beholder. I have no problem with people buying high end stuff. I know people with systems that cost more than 10x their car. Priorities and income can be vastly different... some people aren't 1%ers but they just put their income into audio. People spend a million dollars on a car. I'd rather have the sound system... |
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