People expressing all the optimism are kiddong themselves. These kind of deals where a large company with an inferior product buys a company(or in this case two companies) that in comparison make something league's above them is never a good thing for consumers. I've owned Macintosh pre and power amps and tho I sold them as I felt there was more out there for me I still respect their brand and their unique sound, and now likely will never be the same. And how ironic I've had my eye on a pair of SF speakers. This gives me some urgency to purchase before they are no longer available and risk the new models being an inferior product. I'm not optimistic at all but that's probably because I live in the real world. I know that's just my opinion but I feel strong about it on this one.
While there will be some consolidation (usually marketing, finance, legal, HR, I doubt they will risk losing made in USA and Italy manufacturing given current situation between US and China) I wouldn’t see this as an asset striping exercise either, otherwise the VCs would have followed that route earlier. I do see Bose however using this to establish a presence in the higher end and use its resources to see what further market share it can achieve with these brands. Given the investments Bose are making it would be sensible to build upon rather than devalue their high perceived value. So swings and roundabouts, and no doubt it will be interesting to see the developments that happen over the next 5 years and the new realities emerge.
I've said for years that McIntosh is what certain people bought after they found out that Bose was consumer junk. The Mcintosh of the last century simply is no more and quite frankly the silly blue meters and green lights are just a tired and overused gimmick. Bose would do good to get rid of that eyesore and bring them the rest of the way into the consumer-grade audio market. From a quality perspective, they've been there for a while anyway.
I've had alot of cars. worked hard.my therapy was doing the open road races in america.there are 2 in Texas 2in Nevada 1 in Nebraska. Look up silver state classic .big bend open road race and sand hills open road challenge.they shut the road down closed course helicopters airplanes ham radios course workers every mile for 60 miles.ambulances fire trucks and yes at 200 mph like the f1 in Vegas you can buck things off the road.lets you use your car currently a fully caged zr1 215 mph wot.what does this have to do with mcintosh? Like car manufactures they go through restructure hopefully for the best.just like opening the cars up on the track some of my mcintosh have 4 kw transients and at times I set them free wide open.enjoy the music Google the open road races for some fun.i mention this as a point of education.and yes the Porsche panther twinning turbo ran the fastest in the rain.
I appreciate that. Would the wall of sound be better or worse with this news? Im nostalgic but if the optimism here is true then great. Bose integrated tube preamps at 160 wpc would be perfect.
When I started working there in 1997 they were owned by Clarion,they were owned by D@M holdings for a while (Dennon@Marantz) The current Presedent,COO. of the McIntosh group is heavily invested in the company and has held it together for almost 30 years.Seems like they have A new owner every 7 or 8 years.They are celebrating there 75th year in the same building.They will only grow stronger and better.No worries..
I actually appreciate the feedback. I was sorry when I saw the news today but I own a Bose wireless speaker and headphones. I will enjoy what I have but am still disappointed. Another example of homogenization in society. For all of you super niche be ready
I'll be optimistic for you True Believers and hope the merge will allow the Mac lines to retain its' status and admiration of y'all.
But...too many times, the Git Rich Quick types have run to rags other notables in search of the bigger yacht and/or the estate in NZ and the Ferrari that they have to drive midst the Toys and Fords....
5 days in NYC and I only spotted ONE 6 figure car...headed into a parking structure....
I think I'll keep my pigheadedness' and dig about for the truffles that aren't pretty but run good 'nuff to satisfy....diy my steampunk Walsh and enjoy them.....
"It's the end of the world as we've known it, and I feel fine...."
...well, not 'fine'. per se...... 'Tired' of the squabbles, the endless bs, the education that didn't. the government that can't. and all the answers that don't....
...and an audio company that really doesn't matter in the scope of it all....
Sonus Faber 901’s an improvement ? Lol. McIntosh will sell as long as it’s black gold and blue, N.P. it’s all going to be one big company eventually.
Cheers
Thanks I think.. I’m not a car guy but I appreciate a well made car over a status symbol. I guess I’m sad that Mc and SF are officially that. Glad my 2019 4 runner will last before Musk buys them
Sounds to me like a company that does well in the 21st century marketplace buying itself some prestige. It could become like that conglomerate that bought Panavision and then renamed itself Panavision.
Far too early to know how this will play out and after all, Mr. serblin was Sonus Faber and he’s been out for many years. we don’t know anything about this deal, whether it is dilutive or accretive, or what redundancies can be eliminated without having any impact on the engineering of the product. in any acquisition, The purchaser will always look to take out cost. As far as we know, this was a reasonably strong brand financially and distress sales usually end up with the biggest cuts to the core of the business because they are losing money.
I doubt there will be much change at least at the reference end of the SF line. The market for those products is too thin, and the buyers are generally pretty knowledgeable. Any significant reduction in quality would not go unnoticed and would kill their market at the top end. I would expect more bleed over between Bose and SF at the lower end of their offerings. Im not a fan of Bose-owned two Bose products, neither good But in all honesty, these are things that will probably play out for a couple of years. Too early to know whether it will be really good or really bad or, what is most likely, somewhere in between
Definitely manager count , Marketing and Logistic cost will be reduced. May be price reduction can be expected(low possibility). But if Bose want to fiddle with R&D of Macintosh that's will be the different story, Only time will tell.
I don’t own any McIntosh or SF gear, though I wish I did, but I’m hoping it’s like when Porsche started producing the Cayenne. Porschephiles were freaking out that they succumbed to the SUV market. But really, it allowed the company to prosper and ultimately build better sports cars than they otherwise would have been able to. Leverage the scale of Bose to continue producing excellent equipment. Again, a large dose of hopium over here.
MC was already owned by a private equity firm. This is just a change in ownership to another mega corp. It could be good because Bose is a 3 billion a year in sales company so might be some nice investments to allow for new products and R&D. Bose is a long standing company so I don't think they will do anything to run them into the ground and diminish their investment.
Fair enough but the private equity firm that was the previous owner did not do that, and that business model is notorious for that type of thing. However, marketing McIntosh branded head phones for the masses would not be great.
Shareholders behind Bose are no different than shareholders behind other companies. They want quick returns on their investments. Does anyone here really think they're into high end like we are?
They'll keep the image, promote the myth and cut corners, milking as much as they can out of the carcass. Ascribing altruistic, high end audio intent to them is what they'd like one to do.
@nonoisethe article seems to imply Bose are buying into the high end market and not looking to slash and burn to make McIntosh and Sonus Faber available to the masses. Diluting the brand would seem counter productive. Maybe I’m just being hopeful.
How is this any worse than being owned by a private equity firm? After reading the article it seems like Bose realizes what they are buying and are looking to maintain these products as high end offerings. Hopefully that means they leave it alone and don’t try to fix something that isn’t broken.
Wow. My McIntosh days have been over for a while but I've lately been dreaming about Sonus Faber. Hope for the best? Bose, really?
Funny story: in 1982 I bought an MC225 from a stereo repair guy for $200. I sold it back to him a couple years later for $200. It was my first adventure in the hobby: bought a used amp, enjoyed it, sold it, didn't lose a penny. My pride in that experience diminished considerably a few years ago when I discovered that they are now selling for $3-$10k....
I'm always sorry to see companies bought up by big corporations. As a Vermonter, I can only think of Unilever's purchase of Ben&Jerry's ....
Audio Research was bought by Acora Acoustics and Musical Fidelity was bought by Audio Tuning. In both cases the new owners stated they didn’t want to interfere with what the company was doing to keep the brand original (in many ways). Bose may do this as well. Dr. Omar Bose was a revolutionary person who did many things including inventing a very innovative automobile suspension system.
I was just reading a few news releases on this move and personally as a McIntosh and Sonus Faber owner, I am fractured. I may turn my speakers to face the wall as a symbol of reluctant acceptance. I can only imagine that the value of existing equipment will drop if not plummet in value, I hope I’m wrong. I relate it to Chrysler that went from Diamlar-Benz ownership to Fiat and now Peugeot. But I also owned a MC7205 when McIntosh was owned by Clarion, that amp was a disappointment for any Mc owner. I never understood why Clarion didn’t offer a watch with blue backlight.
But as the OP mentioned, it’s the end of an era. Can’t wait to get a pair of Sonus Faber noise cancelling headphones and a McIntosh WAVE with meters. I’ve
never been a believer in evolution but ‘No Highs No Lows must be Bose’ will probably accompanied buy ‘Value of your gear is what you lack, must be an owner of former Mac’
I would "like" to think this would be a good move for both parties, but time will tell. They largely operate in two very different categories of audio.
Bose has been more recently focused on personal audio, automotive, home theater, and pro audio.
McIntosh Group has held steady with its brand and growth (if anything has improved upon it), while remaining largely in the premium audio space.
I can see Bose wanting to purchase McIntosh Group in order to extend its brand efforts and also its portfolio offerings. I would like to think the positive direction the McIntosh Group has achieved with its brand efforts would be very valuable to Bose.
On a larger scale, I think this is a move with consideration on how Harman has continued its growth trajectory and acquisition of recent brands, including Roon.
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