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who owns who?

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Posted on April 27, 2016 at 13:21:38
cloudwalker
Audiophile

Posts: 634
Location: central wa
Joined: September 27, 2012
I think we would all be surprised if we knew who made what? I know that ATI makes B&K, Onkyo owns Pioneer and Emovita owns Carver. What else is there?

 

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RE: who owns who?, posted on April 27, 2016 at 13:28:51
Alpha Al
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  Since:
December 3, 2015
Harmon owns JBL, AKG, Brooke Siren (BSS), Crown, dBX, Lexicon, Soundcraft, Studer, and maybe more.

 

RE: who owns who?, posted on April 27, 2016 at 13:36:49
6bq5
Audiophile

Posts: 4366
Location: SF Bay
Joined: August 16, 2001
Harmon also owns Mark Levinson & Revel

Naim and JM Labs/Focal are one company

McIntosh & ARC are owned by a Japanese parent
Happy Listening

 

RE: IAG, posted on April 27, 2016 at 14:29:27
b.l.zeebub
Audiophile

Posts: 9361
Location: 52deg 28'N,1deg56'W
Joined: April 17, 2006
Owns QUAD, Wharfedale, Mission, Tag McLaren, Castle Acoustics and Audiolab.

 

Confusing, but..., posted on April 27, 2016 at 14:39:26
E-Stat
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McIntosh & ARC are owned by a Japanese parent

both of them along with a couple other companies have Italian management with a French owned company!

Fine Sounds Group

 

Actually, it's Harman International, posted on April 27, 2016 at 15:37:20
Harman, with an "a", not Harmon, with an "o".

 

fyi, posted on April 27, 2016 at 15:51:28
The "B&K" mentioned in the OP is not the same company as "Brüel & Kjær", which is commonly referred to as "B&K". Audio pros know this, but others often don't.

:)

 

RE: who owns who?, posted on April 27, 2016 at 17:40:18
fantja
Audiophile

Posts: 15486
Location: Alabama
Joined: September 11, 2010
No doubt that many non-audio/video conglomerates owns these companies.
This is very similar to who's on 1st ?

 

Naim & Focal...., posted on April 27, 2016 at 18:11:13
kuma
Audiophile

Posts: 10254
Location: IN
Joined: July 8, 2001
are now owned by a French investment firm Naxicap Partners and Aquasourça.

 

RE: who owns who?, posted on April 27, 2016 at 18:33:47
Mike K
Audiophile

Posts: 13966
Location: 97701
Joined: September 23, 1999
From Wikipedia:

"In 2008, Audio Research was acquired by Fine Sounds SpA, a subsidiary of Italian private equity fund Quadrivio, which also owns several other highly esteemed high-end audio companies, including McIntosh, Sonus Faber, Wadia, and Sumiko."

So far, this situation seems quite benign for all concerned.

Lack of skill dictates economy of style. - Joey Ramone

 

Emotiva and Carver Tube?, posted on April 27, 2016 at 21:00:51
M-dB
Audiophile

Posts: 295
Location: Nor Cal
Joined: June 26, 2014
If i'm not mistaken that sale was very short lived.

 

Multi-Nationals don't own me, posted on April 27, 2016 at 22:09:15
Frihed89
Audiophile

Posts: 15703
Location: Copenhagen
Joined: March 21, 2005
In relation to the gear i own:

Audio Note(UK): Peter Qvortrup
Fi Audio: Don Garber
Blue Circle Audio: Gilbert Yeung
DeHavilland Electric Amplifier Co: Kara Caffee?
Donald North Audio: Donald North
Ultra-Fi: Larry Moore
Tonian Acoustics: Tony Meniasan
Crimson Products Ltd: Peter Moore

 

RE: Confusing, but..., posted on April 27, 2016 at 22:38:50
BubbaMike
Audiophile

Posts: 650
Location: Left Coast of the USA
Joined: January 4, 2002
http://www.theaudiobeat.com/news/fine_sounds_group.htm

http://www.finesoundsgroup.com/en-us/brands




When they discover the center of the universe, a lot of people will be disappointed to discover they are not it. ~ Bernard Bailey

 

RE: fyi, posted on April 28, 2016 at 03:25:52
b.l.zeebub
Audiophile

Posts: 9361
Location: 52deg 28'N,1deg56'W
Joined: April 17, 2006
Brüel & Kjaer also have spun off there recording/audio mic business as DPA (Danish Pro Audio) about 20 years ago.
Since then B&K is specialising in vibration and noise measurement for industry and science.

 

Magnet on my fridge , posted on April 28, 2016 at 03:28:55
mt10425
Audiophile

Posts: 2399
Location: 3 hours west of Chicago
Joined: January 23, 2004
Dad Inc...a wholly owned subsidiary of Mom Inc.



"It's all fun and games until someone doesn't pick up on the sarcasm"

 

And also..., posted on April 28, 2016 at 03:39:36
PAR
...Luxman and Ekco. Additionally IAG have two companies serving the pro market called Wharfedale Pro and Quad Industrial.

 

RE: Multi-Nationals don't own me, posted on April 28, 2016 at 05:16:26
Dave Pogue
Audiophile

Posts: 11686
Location: DC Area
Joined: October 9, 2001
That's Kara Chaffee at deHavilland.

 

D&M Holdings, posted on April 28, 2016 at 05:59:28
layman
Audiophile

Posts: 559
Location: Washington, D.C.
Joined: August 8, 2007
McIntosh (along with Denon, Marantz, Boston, and Snell) are actually owned by D&M Holdings, a Japanese Corporation.

 

Addendum: Fine Sounds, posted on April 28, 2016 at 06:04:13
layman
Audiophile

Posts: 559
Location: Washington, D.C.
Joined: August 8, 2007
I see that Fine Sounds (the Italian Company) also claims McIntosh....?

 

Your first link was dated -nt, posted on April 28, 2016 at 06:17:29
E-Stat
Audiophile

Posts: 37470
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Contributor
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April 5, 2002
.

 

RE: Actually, it's Harman International, posted on April 28, 2016 at 06:53:36
Alpha Al
Industry Professional

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Location: N. Carolina
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Contributor
  Since:
December 3, 2015
My bad. Never did excel at spelling.

 

RE: Actually, it's Harman International, posted on April 28, 2016 at 07:59:08
I do excel at spelling, and believe me, it's a curse in this two-thumbs typing world. lol

 

RE: fyi, posted on April 28, 2016 at 08:25:02
Yeah, their now-vintage 4133, 4135, etc. mics were pretty amazing. You may know that the Grateful Dead used B&K mics with John Curl's differential summing amps for vocals in the "wall of sound" PA system. I don't remember how or why the technology was sold (licensed?) to DPA, but I suspect that B&K just didn't want to get into the studio/concert hall microphone biz.

Then along came Earthworks, and there's as much, um, polarization among advocates of each as there is between the Capulets and the Montagues.

:)

 

RE: D&M Holdings, posted on April 28, 2016 at 09:27:58
Basslines
Audiophile

Posts: 373
Location: The Great White North
Joined: October 22, 2003
D&M Holdings is in turn owned by Bain Capital, Mitt Romney's old company.

 

RE: fyi, posted on April 28, 2016 at 10:21:09
b.l.zeebub
Audiophile

Posts: 9361
Location: 52deg 28'N,1deg56'W
Joined: April 17, 2006
As far as I remember DPA came about as a departmental management buy out.

B&K wanted to get rid of their regular mic business and a few employees bought that department.
DPA is still making some old 40xx series B&Ks .

 

Actually I don't know that ATI is making anything...., posted on April 28, 2016 at 10:24:49
MannyE
Audiophile

Posts: 2088
Location: Miami Beach
Joined: March 4, 2001
When I called them to get info on B&K the "guy" that was there referred me to another guy in Long Island.

I really hope I'm wrong, because both ATI and B&K were great companies.

 

RE: who owns who?, posted on April 28, 2016 at 11:58:56
Emotiva does not own Carver - never did. For a very short time Bob Carver was considering partnering up with Emotiva to produce tube amps here in the USA, but the press release was premature and Bob Carver shut the deal down after he found out what "Big Dan" Laufenberg (Emotiva) was up to.

McIntosh was once owned by D&M holdings and was in turn sold to the Italian group Fine Sounds, who acquired ARC shortly after. AFAIK, D&M Holdings never owned ARC.

 

Also at, posted on April 28, 2016 at 13:40:25
E-Stat
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comma splices. :)

 

"What difference,...", posted on April 28, 2016 at 14:45:53
briggs
Audiophile

Posts: 1674
Location: Connecticut
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"...at this point, what difference does it make?"

 

RE: Multi-Nationals don't own me, posted on April 28, 2016 at 15:09:04
Frihed89
Audiophile

Posts: 15703
Location: Copenhagen
Joined: March 21, 2005
Thanks. Writing too fast is my problem. I just didn't know if Kara had investors behind her.

I've had a UV3 of hers for at least 10 years. I've had some changes made to it, but nothing radical. It drives all my SET and PP amps with great beauty.

 

RE: Also at, posted on April 28, 2016 at 17:36:49
Look, don't get me started on my limited and often mis-used punctuation so-called skills.

:)

 

maybe this is not factual, posted on April 28, 2016 at 23:12:38
cloudwalker
Audiophile

Posts: 634
Location: central wa
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http://www.audioasylum.com/cgi/vt.mpl?f=mug&m=199147

 

they claim they make these, posted on April 28, 2016 at 23:15:54
cloudwalker
Audiophile

Posts: 634
Location: central wa
Joined: September 27, 2012
ATI, Audioaccess, BGW, B&K, Theta Digital

 

RE: maybe this is not factual, posted on April 29, 2016 at 07:11:49
You quote a three year old thread that was not even factual when it was initially posted.

Emotiva prematurely issued a press release (which was parroted by Stereophile) that announced their acquisition of Carver, much to the consternation of Bob Carver. As I understand it, Emotiva wanted to produce tube amplifiers here in the USA under the Carver name. Bob Carver nixed the entire scheme once he understood what Emotiva was up to.

The details remain sketchy (at least to me) but as I understand it Bob was concerned that Emotiva wanted to use (steal?) his designs and his name but did not want to allow him to have any control over the products which bore his name.

If somebody out there has proof otherwise please correct me and I will humbly apologize to everyone concerned.

 

RE: they claim they make these, posted on April 30, 2016 at 03:44:32
MannyE
Audiophile

Posts: 2088
Location: Miami Beach
Joined: March 4, 2001
LOL At least two of those are dead.

 

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