Concerns for the Future of Sound United and Update on my Marantz 7706.

[TLS Guy]

First of all, I am glad to report that my Marantz 7706 AVP has operated faultlessly for over a month. This was a replacement for my five year old 7705 which failed dramatically and could not be repaired due to lack of parts, so went for recycling.

However, I have to wonder if that 7705 was a Monday morning machine. I say this as the SNR spec, of the 7705 and 7706 are identical. However, you could always hear background from the 7705 in a quiet room. It did not interfere even with the quietest passages and I assumed that was just the way they were. However the 7706 makes no background that can be heard at any listening position.

All this has made me concerned about the future of Sound United under Masimo, who had no business buying Sound United in the first place. It has been an abject disaster for them. They have Sound United up for sale, with no serious takers so far. This has to be a concern for all of us with Denon/Marantz units in particular, and other brands they own. Speakers hardly ever fail, but receivers and AVPs can and do.

There are now reasonably reliable reports that Sound United is hemorrhaging significant cash, and that Masimo are considering just shutting down Sound United.

This is a problem as many of us own core devices from Denon/Marantz in particular, including myself. Denon/Marantz have the largest range of AVPs, and AVRs currently. They probably are also the most versatile. Both Denon and Marantz gear are recommended frequently on this forum. So if Masimo do shutter Sound United, which they almost certainly will if a credible buyer does not present themselves soon, will present a significant problem to the AV community at large. They likely would try and get what they could from sale of branding rights, but that does us no good, in fact the reverse.

The only vital piece of equipment I own is the Marantz 7706. The other units are a couple of 7701 AVPs in the family room and Great room. I have a very old Marantz CD player and an old Marantz DVD/SACD player.

The bottom line of all this is what we recommend to members looking to purchase an AVR or AVP. Other options really come down to Yamaha, Onkyo and may be Sony. Other sources are either in the exotic range and or of questionable reliability.

My view is that Sound United own so many brands, and Denon and Marantz in particular, that this presents us all with a significant dilemma should Masimo shutter Sound United.

I should explain that declaring Sound United a Discontinued Operation is an accounting maneuver at this time for tax purposes while a buyer is found. However, during the first quarter of this year, which is the end of this month, a buyer must be found, or a plan submitted for the continued operation of Sound United under Masimo. The third option is to shutter it. All this is now up to the tax accountants it seems at the moment.

 

[mono-bloc]

There are now reasonably reliable reports that Sound United is hemorrhaging significant cash, and that Masimo are considering just shutting down Sound United.

I will admit I have never heard of Sound United or Masimo, But it would seem that Masimo obtained Sound United at a bargain price , despite advice from
financial banks,etc. In short it was a bad investment from day one. And no-one is going to buy a company that has financial restraints.
I did a bit of research, and came up with the following info,

channelnews : Former Sound United Business Could Be “Discontinued” Next Year After Falling Revenues, No Buyer and Losses Claims New Director

Masimo executives are back calling their consumer audio business Sound United, with a senior executive on a conference call this week claiming that they will move the business into being a “discontinued operations” if and when the board decides “to no longer pursue a spin-off, of the this...

www.channelnews.com.au

As for the future of Denon and Marantz they will continue to be sould, probably under the ownership of a new importer. There world is not going to end, due to bad management from Masimo.

The question should really be asked if this is the first company to face closure, Our news service has just announced that car manufacturers in both Mexico and Canada
face large increases in import Duty / Taxes, with the announcement from Trump that cars should really be made in the US. Under this thinking, from a convicted criminal your country will be on it's knee's by the end of the year, if not sooner. With large unemployment being the result

 

[TLS Guy]

I will admit I have never heard of Sound United or Masimo, But it would seem that Masimo obtained Sound United at a bargain price , despite advice from
financial banks,etc. In short it was a bad investment from day one. And no-one is going to buy a company that has financial restraints.
I did a bit of research, and came up with the following info,

channelnews : Former Sound United Business Could Be “Discontinued” Next Year After Falling Revenues, No Buyer and Losses Claims New Director

Masimo executives are back calling their consumer audio business Sound United, with a senior executive on a conference call this week claiming that they will move the business into being a “discontinued operations” if and when the board decides “to no longer pursue a spin-off, of the this...

www.channelnews.com.au

As for the future of Denon and Marantz they will continue to be sould, probably under the ownership of a new importer. There world is not going to end, due to bad management from Masimo.

The question should really be asked if this is the first company to face closure, Our news service has just announced that car manufacturers in both Mexico and Canada
face large increases in import Duty / Taxes, with the announcement from Trump that cars should really be made in the US. Under this thinking, from a convicted criminal your country will be on it's knee's by the end of the year, if not sooner. With large unemployment being the result

This is a long complicated History. Masimo bought Sound United from the private equity firm DEI. DEI formed Sound United after acquiring multiple brands including Denon/Marantz, B & W, Polk, Definitive Technology and HEOS. Denon Marantz were previously owned by a private equity company controlled by Senator Mitt Romney of all people.

Masimo did not buy Sound United for a bargain price, but paid 1.5 billion dollars for it. It was a vanity project of the Masimo founder and CEO. This resulted in not only removal of the chairman but him getting voted off the board. Masimo are a medical device company specializing in O2 monitoring. They had no business getting involved with consumer electronics. The medical device business has been profitable and the home electronics barely. There are rumors that Sound United is now a big money loser. Declaring Sound United was a ruse to hide what is almost certainly losses from shareholders and the market. However, if the company has not been sold by the end of the month, then they have three options.

1). Declare the losses if there are any, and the suspicion is that there are, and continue to own and run the company.

2). Find a buyer which is what they are hoping for.

3). Close Sound United and draw a line under the financials.

Only option 2 is the palatable option.

So we will have to see how this turns out.

No it won't be the end of the world, but it will be adverse for consumer AV and audio to say the least of it, and will accelerate to race to the bottom of this hobby we all love.

Whichever way you slice this it is not a good situation, and we should all be concerned.

 

[TLS Guy]

I will admit I have never heard of Sound United or Masimo, But it would seem that Masimo obtained Sound United at a bargain price , despite advice from
financial banks,etc. In short it was a bad investment from day one. And no-one is going to buy a company that has financial restraints.
I did a bit of research, and came up with the following info,

channelnews : Former Sound United Business Could Be “Discontinued” Next Year After Falling Revenues, No Buyer and Losses Claims New Director

Masimo executives are back calling their consumer audio business Sound United, with a senior executive on a conference call this week claiming that they will move the business into being a “discontinued operations” if and when the board decides “to no longer pursue a spin-off, of the this...

www.channelnews.com.au

As for the future of Denon and Marantz they will continue to be sould, probably under the ownership of a new importer. There world is not going to end, due to bad management from Masimo.

The question should really be asked if this is the first company to face closure, Our news service has just announced that car manufacturers in both Mexico and Canada
face large increases in import Duty / Taxes, with the announcement from Trump that cars should really be made in the US. Under this thinking, from a convicted criminal your country will be on it's knee's by the end of the year, if not sooner. With large unemployment being the result

Certainly I would agree the election of that vile Trump bloke has made the shuttering of Sound United more likely especially as they will face Tariffs from overseas manufacture. There is no way they could pivot to US manufacture intime to prevent disaster. To me the outcome looks bleak, but I would be happy to be wrong about this.

 

[shadyJ]

Certainly I would agree the election of that vile Trump bloke has made the shuttering of Sound United more likely especially as they will face Tariffs from overseas manufacture. There is no way they could pivot to US manufacture intime to prevent disaster. To me the outcome looks bleak, but I would be happy to be wrong about this.

The tarrifs are going to wreak havoc on all consumer electronics, but audio and home theater, our hobby, is going to be particularly hard hit. My guess is that Trump will start a trade war with the EU soon along with the fight with Canada, Mexico, China, and Taiwan. Think of all the European brands as well as Canadian brands, not to mention all of the manufacturing in China. Right not, I have four different products in for review from Canadian companies. They are all made in China as well. This trade war will be nothing less than disastrous. Too much of this hobby already focuses on the expensive rather than the affordable. What is going to happen will raise a lot more audio products out of reach of middle class buyers. It will also shrink the middle class as well, so the pool of buyers will be smaller.

 

[mono-bloc]

The tarrifs are going to wreak havoc on all consumer electronics, but audio and home theater,

What your saying is of cause corect, but home audio and electronics' owners are only a very small percentage of the population. Probably more people
buy Fridges, etc then AVR's. The problem is not what people own but what they can pay for, And non payments end up with snatch backs and bankruptcy
People have to budget for rent, food, etc before looking at any form of electronics'. and the fact that companies are closing down at epic numbers, with
the end result being people have even more financial restraints. and unemployment won't put food on the table, or make the monthly payment

As an outsider, and I know very little about your government structure, it appears to me that your very over governed , with countess bureaucrats, running
a multitude of small states. which if combined would have a big effect on your economy. Not wishing to sound a smart a#se, but while Texas is considered
large, we have cattle stations in the north west a lot bigger which are measured by square miles , run by two people and a dog.

I can remember many, many years ago, my old man used to say, "If you can't pay cash you can't have it " followed by this statement, "I,'m not having any drip-feed
in this house" Consequently we didn't have that much, But the repo man stayed away.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

In general I would be more concerned about small companies, not big companies like Sound United, which is a lot bigger than most audio companies.

If Masimo doesn’t want it anymore, they’ll just sell it to another giant company. Not the first time, won’t be the last.

 

[Verdinut]

If Masimo doesn’t want it anymore, they’ll just sell it to another giant company. Not the first time, won’t be the last.

Possibly Samsung? Harman?

 

[TLS Guy]

In general I would be more concerned about small companies, not big companies like Sound United, which is a lot bigger than most audio companies.

If Masimo doesn’t want it anymore, they’ll just sell it to another giant company. Not the first time, won’t be the last.

Masimo have not wanted it for some time, since the board elections. There have been no buyers rushing to take over Sound United. We will know the answer to this, this month, as Masimo have to decide to continue operating it or shut it. I doubt the board of Masimo want to keep operating it and lose more money.

I suspect that Masimo can not actually afford to keep operating Sound United. Trump's stupid tariffs will be the final nail. I hope I am wrong, but I fear this is coming down against the buffers.