Harman/Samsung Buys an Empire in Sound United From Masimo

[Wayde Robson]

By now everyone's heard Masimo is selling its Sound United audio properties to Harman International, itself a subsidiary of S. Korean electronics giant, Samsung. That means Harman adds more of the most legendary brands in hi-fi to its stable that already looks like a CVS receipt of top names in home and car audio. And of course, Harman happens to be owned by an electronics company already waist deep into the biggest Android ecosystem in the Galaxy.

So, what might the future hold? In this article I'll recount a veritable tele novella that transpired to make the sale to Harman, then Gene, the skeptic and I the optimist, give our take on how this might pan out.

Personally, I'm glad Masimo didn't just drop the Sound United brands off at a bus station in Cincinnati and say, "Good luck, kids." I'm hopeful they found a home, maybe even a family that understands their value.

Masimo Sells Sound United to Harman/Samsung, Creates Audio Empire?

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I think it could be awesome.

Back when I was in my crazy days of buying speakers, I always thought that Revel and B&W were the 2 biggest rivals. So I had to get both the Salon2 and 802D2. And now they are owned by the same company.

Denon, B&W, Revel:

 

[TLS Guy]

By now everyone's heard Masimo is selling its Sound United audio properties to Harman International, itself a subsidiary of S. Korean electronics giant, Samsung. That means Harman adds more of the most legendary brands in hi-fi to its stable that already looks like a CVS receipt of top names in home and car audio. And of course, Harman happens to be owned by an electronics company already waist deep into the biggest Android ecosystem in the Galaxy.

So, what might the future hold? In this article I'll recount a veritable tele novella that transpired to make the sale to Harman, then Gene, the skeptic and I the optimist, give our take on how this might pan out.

Personally, I'm glad Masimo didn't just drop the Sound United brands off at a bus station in Cincinnati and say, "Good luck, kids." I'm hopeful they found a home, maybe even a family that understands their value.

Masimo Sells Sound United to Harman/Samsung, Creates Audio Empire?
View attachment 73411

I'm not as optimistic as you are. In audio there is correct and aberrant, with varying degrees between the two. What we need is less brands and quite a few marketers and MBAs getting pink slips.

What we need is good audio gear at the correct pricing for the markets. We need to stop insisting that a whole bunch of channels is nirvana. It may be for some, but can't be done on the cheap. and unsuitable and a down grade for many if not most rooms.


So we need a return to 2 channel. May be 2.1 in the "affordable" and family friendly range of gear.

My wife and I watched Conclave a week or more ago. We really liked it, however there was gratuitous use of the 0.1 sub channel that contributing nothing to telling the story and was actually a distraction. Audio and AV does not need extension beyond 30 to 25 Hz, and certainly not with that 10db LFE boost!

Things have gone well and truly off the rails. I'm sure all the MBA types spun the story it would be like the introduction of stereo back in 1959. As usual they were wrong and now far less homes have decent audio than they did forty to fifty years ago. Good work all you MBAs and marketers!

 

[lovinthehd]

We'll only see in time just what will happen but I certainly expect the usual paring down....

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

I'm not as optimistic as you are. In audio there is correct and aberrant, with varying degrees between the two. What we need is less brands and quite a few marketers and MBAs getting pink slips.

What we need is good audio gear at the correct pricing for the markets. We need to stop insisting that a whole bunch of channels is nirvana. It may be for some, but can't be done on the cheap. and unsuitable and a down grade for many if not most rooms.


So we need a return to 2 channel. May be 2.1 in the "affordable" and family friendly range of gear.

My wife and I watched Conclave a week or more ago. We really liked it, however there was gratuitous use of the 0.1 sub channel that contributing nothing to telling the story and was actually a distraction. Audio and AV does not need extension beyond 30 to 25 Hz, and certainly not with that 10db LFE boost!

Things have gone well and truly off the rails. I'm sure all the MBA types spun the story it would be like the introduction of stereo back in 1959. As usual they were wrong and now far less homes have decent audio than they did forty to fifty years ago. Good work all you MBAs and marketers!

Interesting. Could YOU be wrong?

 

[TLS Guy]

Interesting. Could YOU be wrong?

The market says I'm right, but anything is possible.

One thing I'm not wrong about is that many, many homes had a decent audio system and now very, very few do, despite audio and video now being joined at the hip and good high quality content so easily available. You would think decent electronics and speakers would now be more common than it ever was, but its not. I personally think I have identified the villains.

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

The market says I'm right, but anything is possible.

One thing I'm not wrong about is that many, many homes had a decent audio system and now very, very few do, despite audio and video now being joined at the hip and good high quality content so easily available. You would think decent electronics and speakers would now be more common than it ever was, but its not. I personally think I have identified the villains.

Let’s not forget. One of the biggest villains(in most homes) is WAF. The other seems to be the idea that people can get a cinematic experience from an iPad. Convenience is king these days. It’s sad.