JVC and Kenwood to Wed

admin · #1 05-13-2008, 04:50 PM

Two electronics giants, Kenwood and JVC, have combined to form a holding company focused on car and home audio electronics. The new company, uniquely entitled JVC Kenwood Holdings, hopes to increase their operating profits up to four times in the next three years.

Discuss "JVC and Kenwood to Wed" here. Read the article.

tn001d · #2 05-13-2008, 05:50 PM

These guys better stick to car audio.. they have no chance in home audio or video.... scratch that.. maybe just in the projector front.. jvc is still strong.

GlocksRock · #3 05-13-2008, 05:56 PM

I've never been a fan of JVC, their stuff has always seemed cheap to me, and I've seen too much of their stuff break. Kenwood has been ok, but nothing they ever had really impressed me that much.

MapleSyrup · #4 05-13-2008, 11:29 PM

Is Denon going to be next in the this merger bid?

efzauner · #5 05-13-2008, 11:29 PM

Both where once great brands, with Kenwood doing OK in the home audio market of the 70s. Car audio after market is getting difficult with all the integrated electronics and Pioneer and Alpine very strong in OEM so I dont blame them. However I was somehow under the impression that JVC was onwed by Matsushita(Panasonic).

from http://kobnet.net/misc/www.cedmagic..../vhd-1983.html :
Victor Company of Japan was formed in 1927 as a subsidiary of the Victor Talking Machine Company in the United States (which later merged with the Radio Corporation of America to become RCA Victor). In 1953 JVC became a subsidiary of Matsushita and remains so to the present day. JVC's origins from Victor give the company access to the Nipper Trademark and a small likeness of Nipper appears on some players and on the sleeve of many VHD's, just like it does on the SFT100 CED player and the RCA VideoDiscs released in 1981.
Perhaps it was sold off since the article. I could not find any reference to Matsushita in the JVC corporat/investors relations web site.

On a related not, having onwed a retail audio business for a few years, JVC left its distibution go wild with very little territory protection resulting in very low margins. So many retail stores droped JVC cause they couldnt make any money.. A few years later they may try to make inroads again maybe at the higher end. For example their projectors.

Seth=L · #6 05-14-2008, 02:17 AM

I like JVC's products, they made some sweet micro systems.

I used to own a JVC flagship receiver (RX-DP9) and that was one beautiful machine, I wish I still had that monster AVR.

I have had nothing but bad experience with their DVD players, they all seem to be very weak.

My television is a JVC. Even though it's SD I still enjoy it quite a bit.

My over all experience with JVC has been pretty good.

Kenwood is another story entirely, all of the Kenwood stuff I have had was either cheesy, or broken.

Clint DeBoer · #7 05-14-2008, 10:02 AM

Umbrella Corporation is coming...

EYEdROP0 · #8 05-14-2008, 11:14 AM

Ive personally found JVC to make good sounding stuff for the price, especially in their headphones. We have an alpine deck with kenwood door speakers in the truck, and it sounds pretty good. But the highs are a bit rolled off for a $200 set of speakers. I hope the merge goes well, as I have decent respect for both companies.

Seth=L · #9 05-14-2008, 01:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EYEdROP0

Ive personally found JVC to make good sounding stuff for the price, especially in their headphones. We have an alpine deck with kenwood door speakers in the truck, and it sounds pretty good. But the highs are a bit rolled off for a $200 set of speakers. I hope the merge goes well, as I have decent respect for both companies.

Oh I forgot, I have JVC marshmellow headphones, those are pretty nice for $20.

Shadow_Ferret · #10 05-14-2008, 02:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by admin

Two electronics giants, Kenwood and JVC, have combined to form a holding company focused on car and home audio electronics. The new company, uniquely entitled JVC Kenwood Holdings, hopes to increase their operating profits up to four times in the next three years.

I thought Kenwood closed shop last year or the year before.

The Kenwood name meant quality back in the 70s. JVC has always meant cheap Japanese electronics to me.

Quote:

Originally Posted by MapleSyrup

Is Denon going to be next in the this merger bid?

Isn't Denon already part of a larger merger group, D&M Holdings, that also owns Marantz, MacIntosh, Boston Acoustics, and Snell Acoustics?