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Tough economy sidelines D&M Holdings, Planar at CEDIA Expo 2009
If you thought the well-to-do crowd wasn't feeling the pinch from the rotten economy, consider this -- D&M is not going to be at CEDIA Expo 2009 in a couple of months. You know, the show that features pricey, high-end custom install toys. Not being able to get our paws on the latest toys from Denon, Marantz, McIntosh, Boston Acoustics, Snell and Escient breaks our hearts, but D&M has decided to commit its resources to dealer training (and promotions, we hope); all the better to drive new customer sales. To be clear, D&M will have a presence at CEDIA, it just won't be on the Expo floor -- meetings will be by appointment only. We're just keeping our fingers crossed that similar measures won't have to be taken at CES in January. Planar (and by association, Runco) may take a similar CEDIA approach, not entirely surprising given its recent performance.
Snell and McIntosh to share resources without becoming McSnell or SnellIntosh
Not that we could ever afford either brand, but we would have cried if either Snell or McIntosh had been given the axe by D&M Holdings. Instead, the parent company is restructuring things so that the two companies will share resources while still maintaining separate commercial identities -- at least for now. Snell will be getting a brand new facility on McIntosh's campus, and frankly given the ultra-high end markets both brands appeal to, this could be a good union. We've never seen McIntosh speakers in the field, even alongside McIntosh electronics, but we've got a feeling that some Snell models would be right at home in certain posh systems.
Joseph D'Appolito now all Snell, all the time
There aren't many celebrities in the world of HD hardware -- even dropping names like Joe Kane or Mark Levinson at your next dinner party is likely to produce blank stares. But if your speakers have a tweeter flanked by two midrange drivers, chances are that you're the beneficiary of the "D'Appolito Array." Joseph D'Appolito came up with this arrangement (along with a 3rd-order crossover) to even out the horizontal dispersion; important in getting the sound to stay the same across the wide swath in front of your display. A long-time consultant to several companies, Dr. D'Appolito has moved exclusively to Snell as its chief engineer. We wish Dr. D'Appolito great success at Snell, and hope that he continues to share his insights with the audio community at-large.[Image courtesy Stereophile]
D&M Holdings bought up by Bain Capital, Kenwood not involved
Talk about needing a roster to tell the players apart! RHJ International -- which owns some 49-percent of the D&M Holdings hydra (Denon, Marantz, Boston Acoustics, Escient, MacIntosh and Snell) -- has accepted an offer from Bain Capital to the tune of ¥510 ($4.74) per share in a buyout bid. But earlier reports that pinned Kenwood as a partner to Bain in this effort have been denied by Bain. There's some goings-on here, for sure. First, we haven't seen any dealings involving the 12-percent stake that Philips has in D&M. Also, the soon-to-be JVC Kenwood Holdings states that it has not decided on whether it will invest in D&M; which corroborates pretty well with the latest Bain statement that Kenwood is not involved, and there are no ongoing talks of future involvement. Corporate squabbling and conspiracy theories aside, we just hope that the D&M brands come out unscathed.
Marantz showing off high-end SACD players, amplifiers and more
Though we're not exactly sure if Marantz will be a wholly owned subsidiary of D&M Holdings for much longer, the boutique brand is still planning to strut its stuff at the upcoming Audio Karma Fest in Michigan. Reportedly, the outfit will be showcasing a number of luxurious components from its Reference Series, include the $3,199 SC-11S1 preamplifier, $4,199 SM-11S1 power amplifier, $3,699 SA-11S2 SACD player and the all new $2,599.99 AV8003 Networking AV Preamp / Processor. For those lacking the requisite scratch, the slightly less magnificent SA8001 SACD player ($899.99) and PM7001 integrated amp ($599.99) will also be around. Word has it that all of the items will be demonstrated on Snell loudspeakers, which all in all should deliver a fairly blissful experience.
D&M Holdings up for sale
While the roster of storied high end names is pretty long, don't think for a minute that the blue-blood part of the market has not experienced consolidation. D&M Holdings is a prime example of this: D&M's owner, RJH International, has managed to fit Denon, Marantz, McIntosh, Boston Acoustics, Snell and Escient under one umbrella over the years. And now RJH is looking to cash in on the concentrated dollop of high end, offering up 49-percent of its shares in D&M. Philips has agreed to offer its12-percent stake to a winning bidder as well. Our math tells us that's more than a controlling percentage. Harman International, apparently satisfied with its own high end roster (including Harman Kardon, Infinity, Revel and Mark Levinson), has bowed out of bidding. That leaves Bain Capital (Kenwood) and Best Buy as the most prominent bidders, both of which scare us a little. One of the things we really enjoy about the D&M brands is the individual "personalities" behind them, and that's a credit to the management overlords. There's no guarantee that this variety of flavor will survive an en masse transition to new ownership.
Snell Acoustics intros Illusion LCR loudspeaker
If you're yearning for yet another all new, totally extravagant loudspeaker, Snell Acoustics has got you covered. Debuting at CES, the Illusion Series LCR was designed to match the firm's acclaimed Model A7 Reference tower (which we're hoping to spot at CES) and features a three-way design and the company's D'Appolito array. According to Snell, the Illusion series speakers are "the most accurate, linear, and dynamic" the company has ever created -- pretty bold words, we'd say. 'Course, they are individually calibrated and priced at $10,000 apiece, so think long and hard about whether or not you want glossy black or practically any other color in the world before pulling the trigger.
My Dream App Semifinals voting ends tonight
Voting for the Semifinals round of the My Dream App contest ends tonight at Midnight (EDT), and with it, seemingly any chance of Desktop Wars (my original choice) making it to the final round. Digg founder Kevin Rose, Peter Cohen and Jason Snell from Macworld, David Pogue of the New York Times, and netcaster Leo Laporte are just some of this rounds Big-Name™ judges. Everyone who votes in this round will get a free copy of playful recording software Voice Candy.So get out there and Vote! Show your patriotism.... or something like that.
Macworld's first day with a MacBook Pro
Jason Snell has a MacBook Pro, and it is just like his Powerbook only faster. He lets all us Mac loving, Intel fearing folks know that this Intel MacBook still looks and feels like a Mac, and that's a good thing.I am willing to bet that most casual Mac users won't even know that their iMac or MacBooks have a different processor in them let alone that Intel makes it. As long as they are running OS X (Apple ain't switching to Windows) people will be fine.Check out the article for some early benchmarks.
