M&K Speakers Return As MK Brand
By Joseph Palenchar -- TWICE, 9/25/2008 1:54:00 PM
Glenview, Ill. — Miller & Kreisel (M&K) home speakers, AWOL from the U.S. market since February 2007, are back under the MK Speaker brand through The Dolpin Group, an importer/marketing company set up by principals of Abt Electronics, the consumer electronics and major appliance retailer.
In recent weeks, select MK speakers went up for sale on Abt’s online site, but the company plans distribution to brick-and-mortar retailers, probably through stocking reps and rep/distributor companies, Dolphin president Mike Abt told TWICE. The company exhibited at the recent CEDIA Expo and will go to International CES in January to close deals, he said.
Abt’s site displays 23 MK products, including satellite speakers priced up to $1,199 each, a surround speaker priced up to $1,399 and subwoofers priced to $2,199. All but six THX-certified speakers on the site can be purchased online. The THX speakers are available only by phone order for shipment to consumers, a customer-service rep said.
In late November or early December, Dolphin plans to bring a trio of in-wall speakers to market.
Dolphin imports MK products through Denmark-based MK Sound, a start-up venture that purchased M&K products and intellectual property after the founding company, 34-year-old Miller & Kreisel Sound of Chatsworth, Calif., filed Chapter 7 in early 2007. The start-up’s owners include a former overseas distributor for M&K and a former M&K sales executive based in Europe, said Abt.
The new owners moved all manufacturing to China. M&K built products at its own Chatsworth factory and in China, Abt said.
At one time, M&K had more than 300 dealers, Abt noted.
