Audio Hardware Companies on Life Support

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by jbmcb, Mar 14, 2019.

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  1. jbmcb

    jbmcb Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Troy, MI, USA
    More a list for warning people about buying "new" gear, here's a list of relatively well-known audio companies that appear to be slowly winding down, even though they appear to have a continued presence on the web. I understand that high end audio companies generally release product at a slower rate than mass-market companies, but if you haven't updated your website in years, or haven't had a new product in four years...

    Theta Digital - Released a new amp in 2005, and an updated Cassablanca in 2017. No updates since then, and their latest Cassablanca has never had a software update.

    Adcom - Looks like they are still actively selling new hardware, but no new product development in several years

    Most Harman brands, except for Mark Levinson, JBL and Lexicon. Infinity hasn't released a new home speaker in years, looks like they are focusing on car and marine audio. Harman Kardon seems to be focusing on sound bars and bluetooth speakers. Most of their other home audio products are several years old.

    Wadia - No new product in four years.

    Krell - New products are sporadic, their top-of-the-line HT processor is six years old, their most recent product an HT amplifier released last year, or the year before.

    Any others?
     
  2. Davey

    Davey NP: CLARAGUILAR ~ Figura (2024)

    Location:
    SF Bay Area, USA
    Haven't most of those companies been in and out of the business for years? Isn't Wadia now controlled by the McIntosh group, same company as Sonus Faber and Audio Research and Sumiko these days. Hard to follow anymore, many of these companies change hands every few years.
     
  3. tumbleweed

    tumbleweed Innocent Bystander

    The Adcom that exists today is not connected to the original company. The rights to the name were sold off a long time ago. Make no assumptions about Adcom today with regards to twenty years ago. Think: Dynaco after they sold out to Pancor.

    Virtually everything Harman now belongs to Samsung. WHAT!!! Yep, sorry.

    Krell. Well, Dan d'Agostino is gone...so, I picture the body lurching around with no head. Colorado's famous "Mike The Headless Chicken" comes to mind.
     
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  4. soundboy

    soundboy Senior Member

    Sherwood?

    NHT?
     
  5. tumbleweed

    tumbleweed Innocent Bystander

    The name is still owned by Inkel of South Korea, longtime owner of the name and once-upon-a-time manufacturer for the original Sherwood, although it doesn't appear the brand is currently is in use. They may be doing OEM work for other companies. NAD has been mentioned as one company using their factories.

    After, I believe, being under outside ownership (Jensen?), NHT is back under the control of co-founder Chris Byrne. The other co-founder, Ken Kantor, has moved on.
     
  6. Michael

    Michael I LOVE WIDE S-T-E-R-E-O!

    well there is always Vintage! : )
     
  7. Ctiger2

    Ctiger2 Senior Member

    Location:
    US
    Everything will be shifting to the east as Western Civilization collapses. It's happening right now in slow mo.
     
  8. Strat-Mangler

    Strat-Mangler Personal Survival Daily Record-Breaker

    Location:
    Toronto
    My theory is most people have migrated to listening to music while on-the-go ; in cars or via headphones in the subway/bus/office. As a result, most people don't even listen to music at home, not via full-sized stereo systems, and certainly not seriously while actively enjoying the sound quality their systems can dish out.

    Such a mentality would certainly hurt these types of companies.
     
  9. soundboy

    soundboy Senior Member

    Chris Byrne retired from NHT about 2 years ago. I met Mr. Byrne at the NHT corporate showroom and he demo a then new speaker to me, which turned out to be the revived SuperOnes. I am a NHT fan and the lack of new product introductions is making me worried.
     
  10. Glmoneydawg

    Glmoneydawg Forum Resident

    Location:
    Ontario Canada
    Bought my dad a set of super 1's years ago.....still amazed everytime i visit:)
     
  11. tumbleweed

    tumbleweed Innocent Bystander

    Now if you tell me that Grant Petersen is no longer the head honcho at Rivendell, I'll know things are really sad.:sigh:
     
  12. GoldprintAudio

    GoldprintAudio Forum Resident

    Location:
    Lexington, NC

    Krell appears to be chugging along ok. They just released all new updated amps and rumor has it, some high end stuff is coming down the pipeline very soon. They also have the brand new 300i integrated amp which has received some nice press.

    Wadia was purchased by the Fine Sounds group several years back (same company that owns Sonus Faber, Audio Research and McIntosh).
     
  13. Fruff76

    Fruff76 L100 Classic - Fan Club President

    Gallo speakers?
     
  14. displayname

    displayname Forum Resident

    Location:
    Dallas
    I think a bigger sign of a company on life support is when dealers drop them, especially for failure to deliver products or failure to honor warrantied gear or service. Honestly, companies with dated websites and slow release cycles sometimes are very financially stable. They know what they can and can't afford, and often they are comfortable with the business coming in through their dealers without any additional marketing. A solid stable business doesn't always need to be a $100M global corporation.
     
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  15. Bart

    Bart Forum Resident

    Location:
    Boston
    I forgot about Wadia. When I first started shopping for 'streaming stuff' in about 2011, they had some interesting affordable options. The fact that I haven't heard or thought about them in some years says something.
     
  16. jbmcb

    jbmcb Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Troy, MI, USA
    Sure, but there are dated websites, then there are websites where the list of authorized on-line distributors results in 404 Page Not Found errors.
    Authorized Wadia Online Dealers

    If you can't be bothered to update your website that tells people where to buy your products, that says quite a bit about the state of a company, I think.
     
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  17. F1nut

    F1nut Forum Resident

    Location:
    The Mars Hotel
  18. Fruff76

    Fruff76 L100 Classic - Fan Club President

  19. Dillydipper

    Dillydipper Space-Age luddite

    Location:
    Central PA
    Last I heard, Crosley was doin' pretty well...:biglaugh:
     
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  20. jbmcb

    jbmcb Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Troy, MI, USA
    Mirage - Looks like Crutchfield was their last distributor, and they no longer carry them.
    Energy - Still lists Circuit City and CompUSA as current distributors, and it doesn't look like any of the on-line distributors carry them, either
     
    Last edited: Mar 14, 2019
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  21. Steve Hoffman

    Steve Hoffman Your host Your Host

    What is audio hardware? You mean like brackets, metal strips, etc.?
     
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  22. Fruff76

    Fruff76 L100 Classic - Fan Club President

    Classé - I think they closed shop. I used to really like thier amplifiers.
     
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  23. displayname

    displayname Forum Resident

    Location:
    Dallas
    Plenty of the big boys have this issue too. As a matter of fact when I've tried to find PS Audio and PrimaLuna gear in town, both of those companies directed me to a local record shop as their local "dealer". The PS Audio one does carry the sprout, but nothing else. PrimaLuna pointed me to the same place, and I know that place has never seen a PrimaLuna. I'd be shocked if the staff even know what PrimaLuna is. They mostly push new records, and some vintage gear. It's a good record shop, but not a good gear shop by any means.
     
  24. jbmcb

    jbmcb Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Troy, MI, USA
    Yeah so I'm a computer guy. Software is what you play, hardware is what you play software on :)
     
  25. Fruff76

    Fruff76 L100 Classic - Fan Club President

    The category between “music corner” and “visual arts”
     
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