Audiovox Buys Klipsch Group (Jamo, Mirage, Energy and Athena)

[admin]

Big news in the audio world this week. In a move that took everyone by surprise - at least those not in the know - Indianapolis high-end speaker maker Klipsch Group has agreed to be purchased by New York-based Audiovox Corp. Audiovox said on Thursday it has signed a “non-binding term sheet†to acquire all of Klipsch’s shares. That's right, Audiovox, a rather large company (bigger than some might think) will soon control all of Klipsch's brands, including Jamo, Mirage, Energy and Athena. Audiovox is a leader in the automotive electronics and accessories field and even have a large presence in the consumer electonics category. Audiovox markets products under the Audiovox, RCA, Jensen, and Acoustic Research brand names.

Discuss "Audiovox Buys Klipsch Group (Jamo, Mirage, Energy and Athena)" here. Read the article.

 

[FirstReflection]

And Klipsch's steady march towards the basement continues...

When Klipsch bought out API, they took three popular Canadian speaker brands and pretty much destroyed them. When's the last time you saw any Athena speakers (once a very popular, inexpensive brand). Oh, that's right, Athena basically exists in name only now, thanks to Klipsch. Energy speakers used to be highly regarded - the Veritas line was often mentioned in the same sentence with Revel and Wilson. Now, their entire market focus is on tiny "box" speakers that aren't even as good as the old Athena Micra6 package (which was a GREAT little 5.1 speaker package).

Mirage used to get a lot of attention for their unique "omnipolar" speakers. Where's Mirage now? Oh, that's right, Orb speakers have basically taken all of their market and mind share, since Klipsch didn't see fit to market Mirage after they bought the brand.

Klipsch did a TERRIBLE job with the API brands that it aquired and now, Audiovox can destroy the Klipsch and Jamo names, just like they did the RCA and Jensen brands. RCA, if you can believe it, used to be a highly respected brand. Remember that iconic "His Master's Voice" image of the dog staring into the gramophone? I'll bet most people associate that image with the RCA brand. Sure, that image's rights were used by a number of companies before RCA, but it was RCA that truly made the image memorable and that had a lot to do with their once high-standing in the audio world.

Klipsch was already on the decline. Their decision to focus on lower prices to the detriment of sound quality (eg. the "Icon" line) was a clear indication of where they were already headed. Now Audiovox can turn them into a Walmart brand, which is pretty much the only place where you find RCA and Jensen products anymore.

What a sad, sad world. Oh well, at least this is one way for companies who no longer give a flying eff to get out of the way and let the hungry speaker companies who actually care about audio quality have a shot at the market.

 

[its phillip]

Energy actually has new speakers - a new Veritas line (which seems way too similar to their discontinued RC line) and a new CF line...but who knows how long that will last.

 

[masteph]

Klipsch will go the way of Infinty

This reminds me of how Harmon destroyed a once great brand (Infinity)...It is such ashame that inorder to increase sales that these legendary brands fall victim to mass produced cheap audio.

 

[billy p]

Okay, so your a little late to the party... you might want to consider combining the 2 threads.

Just a thought?

http://forums.audioholics.com/forums/showthread.php?t=71086

 

[shadyJ]

And Klipsch's steady march towards the basement continues...

When Klipsch bought out API, they took three popular Canadian speaker brands and pretty much destroyed them. When's the last time you saw any Athena speakers (once a very popular, inexpensive brand). Oh, that's right, Athena basically exists in name only now, thanks to Klipsch. Energy speakers used to be highly regarded - the Veritas line was often mentioned in the same sentence with Revel and Wilson. Now, their entire market focus is on tiny "box" speakers that aren't even as good as the old Athena Micra6 package (which was a GREAT little 5.1 speaker package).

Mirage used to get a lot of attention for their unique "omnipolar" speakers. Where's Mirage now? Oh, that's right, Orb speakers have basically taken all of their market and mind share, since Klipsch didn't see fit to market Mirage after they bought the brand.

Klipsch did a TERRIBLE job with the API brands that it aquired and now, Audiovox can destroy the Klipsch and Jamo names, just like they did the RCA and Jensen brands. RCA, if you can believe it, used to be a highly respected brand. Remember that iconic "His Master's Voice" image of the dog staring into the gramophone? I'll bet most people associate that image with the RCA brand. Sure, that image's rights were used by a number of companies before RCA, but it was RCA that truly made the image memorable and that had a lot to do with their once high-standing in the audio world.

Klipsch was already on the decline. Their decision to focus on lower prices to the detriment of sound quality (eg. the "Icon" line) was a clear indication of where they were already headed. Now Audiovox can turn them into a Walmart brand, which is pretty much the only place where you find RCA and Jensen products anymore.

What a sad, sad world. Oh well, at least this is one way for companies who no longer give a flying eff to get out of the way and let the hungry speaker companies who actually care about audio quality have a shot at the market.

Despite all this, no one makes Klipsch speakers like Klipsch. You think their Heritage lines will exist after Audiovox gets their grubby hands on Klipsch? That will be a true loss to the audio world, as well as their Reference lines and THX lines. Their stuff below that is a mixed bag, some good, some not so great. But they are the only mainstream brand of speaker with serious dynamic response. The best speakers I ever heard were a pair of properly setup Klipschorns, and now I know I will probably never be able to buy a new pair, as they will likely cease production. It's amazing that a speaker of a design that old still sounds superior to equivalently priced speakers being produced today, 60 years later!

You can't really argue that Klipsch was heading downhill just because it offered more budget minded speaker lines such as the Icons. They still had their high end stuff available, and they need to make money just like everyone else. If they didn't have the cheap stuff available, they might not have the money for R&D on their high end stuff.

As for Energy and Infinity, they might not make the ultra high end stuff anymore, but their mid-fi stuff is some of the very best speakers in their price class, and they are an asset to their name brand. Everyone knows the crazy bang for the buck you can get for the RC and Primus speakers. The ultra high end speaker market is crowded anyway. Speaking of which, Klipsch does bring something unique to the ultra high end with their Palladiums, its too bad if that line gets the axe. Why couldn't Klipsch have held on till I got rich so I can buy a Palladium setup for every room in my mansion?

 

[FirstReflection]

I'm being my usual overly harsh, hyperbolic self, of course

But I'm just rather pissed at the state of the whole A/V industry. It used to be that you could walk into a Best Buy or other big box retailer and at least have a number of decent choices for speakers. Never truly awesome choices, of course, but at least some options that were not pure and utter crap.

Klipsch, Polk, Inifinity, Boston, Athena, Energy, Mirage - these were the sorts of brand names that you used to always see and they used to offer quality speakers for reasonable prices.

What happened?

Is the internet to blame? It seems as though the big box stores are just going for more and more super-cheap speakers and HTiB packages while simultaneously positioning those horrid little Bose cubes as the "high end".

If you go to a specialty A/V retailer, they tend to focus more on the more expensive or custom-installer-centric brands. So all of those "in the middle" sort of brands and product lines seem to be disappearing! And that makes me sad

I have to assume that anyone who used to be paying store prices for those brands is simply opting for higher performance from the internet-direct speaker companies. That isn't a bad thing. Far from it! But there are still a TON of people who buy their electronics from physical stores. What are their options now? Crappy HTiB, crappy super-cheap speakers meant to try and compete with those irrationally cheap HTiB packages, or crappy but expensive Bose!

When Klipsch bought API, they sadly sort of became the sole manufacturer for those "inbetween" levels. Sure, polk and Boston are still out there - Boston is probably your best bet at this point. Polk seems to have fallen prey to the same sort of "cut the cost and the quality along with it" business environment that is out there right now.

It's hard to know what to do. You can't cheat physics! The only way to do it is to trick customers with ridiculously effective marketing, the way Bose and Monster manage to continue doing somehow. We all hailed the rise of the internet-direct speaker companies because they offered high-end performance at big box prices. But now, we might have destroyed that market, and actually left ourselves with less choice and fewer options

 

[3db]

When I first heard the Energy22s I knew I heard a special speaker from a special speaker manufacturer who was interested in making outstanding products. Now that Klipsch swallowed them and Audivox now swallowed Klipsch, I can see that Energy will only live on as a legend and not a worth while audio product that they once were.

 

[GranteedEV]

I have to assume that anyone who used to be paying store prices for those brands is simply opting for higher performance from the internet-direct speaker companies. That isn't a bad thing. Far from it! But there are still a TON of people who buy their electronics from physical stores. What are their options now? Crappy HTiB, crappy super-cheap speakers meant to try and compete with those irrationally cheap HTiB packages, or crappy but expensive Bose!

They've still got Infinity making great entry level speakers.

Either way, the market dictates the product. That particular market just doesn't seem to be interested in quality... so so-be-it. Get with the times and order online, go to a hi fi shop, or go to best buy and pick the smallest option. It is it what is it is.

I'm a lot more concerned about the high end klipsch stuff... you know.. the stuff the engineers probably gave a crap about. The THX Ultra 2 stuff for example.

 

[digicidal]

Is the internet to blame? It seems as though the big box stores are just going for more and more super-cheap speakers and HTiB packages while simultaneously positioning those horrid little Bose cubes as the "high end".

Funny you should mention this... if I get a chance I'll take a couple of pictures of this and make a new thread with them... since I think it bears further comment:

I went to Frys the other day for some networking gear and wandered over to the A/V area (which I haven't been to in some time). Well, I don't know if it was in anticipation of CES or what exactly - but they've remodeled the section. Now there's a full-on living room setup with BlOSE gear positioned around a big comfy leather sofa (complete with end tables), a big Panasonic plasma, and flanked by smaller BlOSE setups of varying prices.

I figured "OK... let's see what else they've done" thinking maybe they at least set up their other two auditioning rooms to have the speakers actually positioned so you have nominal imaging... NOPE! They're the same two rows of speaker pairs facing each other at a full 90deg angle from the centers and the TV. So while BlOSE gets a carpeted, fully furnished living room with properly spaced and directed 'speakers' (ahem cubes) - the Martin Logans, DefTechs, Polks, Kefs, and Infinitys - are all being demoed in a freakin' closet with the pairs all being horizontally opposed to each other! Of course, it doesn't really matter because most of the time they can't even figure out how to get the correct pair to play and only have one AVR that works to power them.

Not that I hadn't already decided to go ID rather than B&M for my next speakers - but if I hadn't, that would have pushed me in that direction anyway.

 

[sholling]

I've never been a huge fan although I'd love to listen to the Palladium line which has held a proud spot on my "if I ever win the lotto" list of dream toys. It's hard to say what audiovox will do although their history isn't pretty. But there is just a chance that they will improve on Klipsch's customer service. The Klipsch name took a huge hit in my book with the way they handled the Promedia debacle. And who knows, they just may decide to keep flagship lines.

The bright side is that for every old guard company falling to corporate consolidation another small company pops up offering better bang for the buck.

 

[dkane360]

But there is just a chance that they will improve on Klipsch's customer service.

That's weird, Klipsch support has been a great help to me on multiple occasions. I hope their customer support doesn't change, because then it would probably be like every other major corporation with overseas support, waiting on hold, and talking to people who are just reading from a set script.

Klipsch has always had a special place in my heart (see sig for details ), so I hope they get through this whole ordeal unscathed. At least until I can get my own set of Palladiums

 

[Biggz]

Oh My

I always thought of Klipsch as one of the premier speaker builders. They kept the competition striving for new innovations just to maintain pace. I had the misfortune of working for a car stereo installer on Queens blvd. NYC when I was a very young man. At that time in the mid 70's Audiovox was in virtually every US car makers vehicles. It wasn't until Blaupunkt hit the US shores in fancy Mercedes and BMW models did they start to relinquish their hold on the industry. Without bias a have to say their radios where the cheapest poorly made garbage that you could buy. My advise to current Klipsch owners or potential new owners is to buy your speakers ASAP. If you already own take very good care and don't abuse them. Be happy. Your speakers just went up considerably in value.

Once the Audiovox bean counters get through cutting cost to increase profits, I'd venture to say that the quality will go down hill fast. Gone to the extent that the competition will be on the level of Emerson, looking at Sanyo as an upgrade.

This news is very unfortunate. I would think that it will be more difficult to convince new speaker customers of their commitment to speaker building when they also make HDTV antennas and cheap clock radios.

One last thing. Keep your receipts to prove that you purchased you speakers prior to this sad announcement.

Biggz

 

[smurphy522]

Funny you should mention this... if I get a chance I'll take a couple of pictures of this and make a new thread with them... since I think it bears further comment:

I went to Frys the other day for some networking gear and wandered over to the A/V area (which I haven't been to in some time). Well, I don't know if it was in anticipation of CES or what exactly - but they've remodeled the section. Now there's a full-on living room setup with BlOSE gear positioned around a big comfy leather sofa (complete with end tables), a big Panasonic plasma, and flanked by smaller BlOSE setups of varying prices.

I figured "OK... let's see what else they've done" thinking maybe they at least set up their other two auditioning rooms to have the speakers actually positioned so you have nominal imaging... NOPE! They're the same two rows of speaker pairs facing each other at a full 90deg angle from the centers and the TV. So while BlOSE gets a carpeted, fully furnished living room with properly spaced and directed 'speakers' (ahem cubes) - the Martin Logans, DefTechs, Polks, Kefs, and Infinitys - are all being demoed in a freakin' closet with the pairs all being horizontally opposed to each other! Of course, it doesn't really matter because most of the time they can't even figure out how to get the correct pair to play and only have one AVR that works to power them.

Not that I hadn't already decided to go ID rather than B&M for my next speakers - but if I hadn't, that would have pushed me in that direction anyway.

Not having been to a Fry's for some time and certainly not at this particular store I cannot say this for certain. However I would bet that Bose has provided this set-up or at least orchestrated it.
In my past life of managing at Circuit City we used to have new end caps and larger set-up come in from Bose. A few years we even had a "Bose weekend" theme; usually based around mid Jan to reap the Super-Bowl Sales.

 

[digicidal]

Hmmm... I have a pair of Athena WS-100's as well as a 5.1 setup of Klipsch Synergy line circa 1997 (i.e. before they were completely Chinese-made). I wonder if this will boost their sales value?

I guess I should hold on to them for a few more months to see what the fallout is from this deal. Maybe they'll put the 'slush' in my 'SongTower-slushfund' for my 2ch room.

 

[swspiers]

So while BlOSE gets a carpeted, fully furnished living room with properly spaced and directed 'speakers' (ahem cubes) - the Martin Logans, DefTechs, Polks, Kefs, and Infinitys - are all being demoed in a freakin' closet with the pairs all being horizontally opposed to each other! Of course, it doesn't really matter because most of the time they can't even figure out how to get the correct pair to play and only have one AVR that works to power them.

Not really to defend Fry's or Bose, but Bose pays A LOT of money to Fry's for that real estate. You wanna have a killer display at Fry's, you're paying for the priviledge.

If nothing else, Fry's really are the smartest people in the room at time...

 

[dkane360]

The Magnolia rooms at the Best Buy's near me are usually very well kept. Filled to the brim with B&W, Klipsch, Def Tech, Mirage, and Martin Logan. No Blose in the Magnolia studio rooms

 

[Seth=L]

Klipsch is regarded as one of the largest speaker specific manufacturers in the world.

Goes to show that people clearly don't put much stock into good sound reproduction in their homes since a company like Audiovox can swallow them whole. I'm not saying that Audiovox is small by any means, but it's still amazing that a company with so little market presence is able to make such a large move.

I look at it as an opportunity for new manufacturers to rise after the demise of Klipsch and all brands in it's fold. Jensen, Acoustic Research, and Advent are all toilet brands now, and they were all once some of the largest names in audio. I don't see Klipsch as a brand lasting long under this regime.

 

[S.R. Johnson]

Klipsch is regarded as one of the largest speaker specific manufacturers in the world.

Goes to show that people clearly don't put much stock into good sound reproduction in their homes since a company like Audiovox can swallow them whole. I'm not saying that Audiovox is small by any means, but it's still amazing that a company with so little market presence is able to make such a large move.

I look at it as an opportunity for new manufacturers to rise after the demise of Klipsch and all brands in it's fold. Jensen, Acoustic Research, and Advent are all toilet brands now, and they were all once some of the largest names in audio. I don't see Klipsch as a brand lasting long under this regime.

I think that Mr. Klipsch himself is turning over in his grave after hearing this news!

 

[billy p]

Nothing against Klipsch , but at the time API was considered one of the top mfg worldwide. Now, I'm not sure what Audiovox has in mind for Klipsch but recent history using the Klispch acquisition model of API...this is NOT a good sign!