[SignMD]

Hope they don't change the quality of the B&W system....


Harman is buying Bowers & Wilkins, Marantz and Denon as Masimo sells its consumer audio business

https://www.whathifi.com/hi-fi/harma...audio-business

[BroDoze]

Yep - saw this - HUGE news.

[FCX5]

[QUOTE=SignMD;32064110]Hope they don't change the quality of the B&W system....


Harman is buying Bowers & Wilkins, Marantz and Denon as Masimo sells its consumer audio business

https://www.whathifi.com/hi-fi/harman-is-buying-bowers-and-wilkins-marantz-denon-and-others-as-masimo-sells-its-consumer-audio-business

They also own B&O’s audio business.

[avi66]

Originally Posted by FCX5

They also own B&O’s audio business.

The whole B&O business or just the license to use certain tech and use the B&O brand name of what was B&O’s auto audio business division ?

[exxxviii]

This is a sad day. B&W was one of the few independents remaining that anchored on true excellence. Harman is very good, but not great - they set a lower bar.

[Mech Spec]

Originally Posted by exxxviii

This is a sad day. B&W was one of the few independents remaining that anchored on true excellence. Harman is very good, but not great - they set a lower bar.

Huh? B&W was already owned by another audio conglomerate since 2020.

A bunch of people who are drinking the brand koolaid in this thread. B&W isn't inherently amazing as a speaker company, it's all about who is actually investing money in tuning and speaker placement in a car and that is driven by the car brand not the speaker company.

In the case of B&W in cars, they were being contracted by the OEM's to provide high priced systems for the upper tier cars. The only thing that will degrade a "B&W branded" system is the OEM cutting the amount of money they are willing to pay for the premium audio system.

And if quality did go down you should blame [Insert car brand here] not [insert speaker brand here]

[ppointer]

Originally Posted by exxxviii

This is a sad day. B&W was one of the few independents remaining that anchored on true excellence. Harman is very good, but not great - they set a lower bar.

+1 on this. The HK in my '22 G30 is only adequate. The W&B wasn't available when I ordered.

[eliphil]

Originally Posted by Mech Spec

Huh? B&W was already owned by another audio conglomerate since 2020.

A bunch of people who are drinking the brand koolaid in this thread. B&W isn't inherently amazing as a speaker company, it's all about who is actually investing money in tuning and speaker placement in a car and that is driven by the car brand not the speaker company.

In the case of B&W in cars, they were being contracted by the OEM's to provide high priced systems for the upper tier cars. The only thing that will degrade a "B&W branded" system is the OEM cutting the amount of money they are willing to pay for the premium audio system.

And if quality did go down you should blame [Insert car brand here] not [insert speaker brand here]

I’m sure your right but my BW sound system is clearly better then the Hk in identical cars 1 year apart

[zx10guy]

Don't care about how this affects B&W in OEM car audio. Anyone that is really into quality car audio will want to design their own system to put into the car. At first I was bummed by not being able to get the HK audio upgrade for my E82. I'm actually glad my car didn't have it. Much more satisfied with the Match/Bimmertech DSP amp paired with Focal speakers with the DSP dialed in for the Focal speakers and my musical tastes.

McIntosh at one point had a car audio line which was very good. I still have their 2 way 6x9 coaxial separates that I used in a prior car that was just great sound quality wise. Just don't have a car to put it in at the moment along with the Canton 2 way separates.

What I'm more concerned about is how the parent company affects B&W's overall operation. I've been in the audio hobby for decades. I finally put together my reference home system using B&W Nautilus speakers in a purposely constructed room with acoustical treatments. I've watched many icons in the audio industry either get run into the ground or watered down when they were bought out.

Have to see how things move forward with the acquisition by Harman.

[Mech Spec]

Originally Posted by eliphil

I’m sure your right but my BW sound system is clearly better then the Hk in identical cars 1 year apart

Yes but thats because bmw paid less money for the HK system and probably charged less for it as an option.

[PunsGalore]

It’s a shame Burmester sound systems aren’t available in these cars.. while I like B&W, always found the Burmester systems to be excellent too

[chris719]

Originally Posted by eliphil

I’m sure your right but my BW sound system is clearly better then the Hk in identical cars 1 year apart

They are both designed by Harman except with B&W they have licensed the name and sourced the drivers from a different factory.

[Dick_Lexus]

... and Samsung owns Harman. Heed the new boss.. Same as the old boss.

[eliphil]

Originally Posted by chris719

They are both designed by Harman except with B&W they have licensed the name and sourced the drivers from a different factory.

The difference is hard to believe. The BW is truly outstanding

[chris719]

Originally Posted by eliphil

The difference is hard to believe. The BW is truly outstanding

Oh, I don't doubt it, but it's mainly because of the budget, not that B&W the speaker company is the driving force behind it.

[Motown65]

I have yet to hear a factory stereo that is equalized and staged as well as an individually tuned one with added dsp and im not sure why... So no matter what you get your need a dsp amp on the factory speakers at minimum

[Vindicator3]

Hey man, I got a 911 with a quadrophonic Blaupunkt!

[UPSROD]

IMO Dirac is the one!

[chris719]

Originally Posted by UPSROD

IMO Dirac is the one!

Idk if Harman licenses it still but the E92 M3 Individual Hi-Fi option used Dirac cabin correction.

[W2k]

Originally Posted by chris719

Idk if Harman licenses it still but the E92 M3 Individual Hi-Fi option used Dirac cabin correction.

And it was GLORIOUS. My E93 had this option and it was the best audio quality I've ever experienced in a car so small. Nowadays, it seems even going for a 5-series, you have to go aftermarket to get really good sound (although the B&W is no slouch).

[BlkGS]

A few things...

None of these systems are designed by the companies on the badge. They license the name because prospective buyers know who they are and place a value on it. Very few of these systems have speakers or amps made by those companies either.

Modern audio systems are categorically better than stuff 10-20 years old. There's much more time alignment and DSP done from the factory that yield a much more flat response curve. That doesn't necessarily mean it "sounds better to me". Everyone likes a different sound profile. My wife hates bass in her music, I love it.

Nothing will likely change after this for the audio systems in cars unless Harman decides that they don't want to have B&W be their top brand in their portfolio. The odds of this are very low, but who knows.

[FCX5]

Originally Posted by avi66

The whole B&O business or just the license to use certain tech and use the B&O brand name of what was B&O’s auto audio business division ?

Use the B&O brand for audio in cars. They bought the name. However, B&O still does some cars on their own - which are usually the high end exotic cars.

Once Harman buys a brand, they share components. The B&O in most audit’s are exactly the same as Harmon Kardon.