Hi-Fi Companies that lose themselves

All general audio posts go here.
User avatar
Dr Bunsen Honeydew
Posts: 30758
Joined: Wed Jul 11, 2012 7:26 pm
Location: Muppet Labs
Has thanked: 0
Been thanked: 48 times

Hi-Fi Companies that lose themselves

Unread post by Dr Bunsen Honeydew »

It is almost like Darwin in reverse. Small companies started by enthusiast make great product, they get sold on when the owner retires or gets pissed off with the industry or wants to cash in. The companies are then run by corporate type suits who just bullshit each other to keep their jobs. They hire white coats who just bullshit the suits because they know they don't understand in order to keep their jobs. So the company bullshits their customer because that is the only thing it has any expertice in.

Daniel Quinn
Posts: 8586
Joined: Thu Jul 12, 2012 7:16 am
Has thanked: 24 times
Been thanked: 399 times

Re: Hi-Fi Companies that lose themselves

Unread post by Daniel Quinn »

That is the story of the last 50 years of industrial development .

Stemcor1990
Posts: 351
Joined: Wed Nov 05, 2014 11:06 pm
Has thanked: 6 times
Been thanked: 23 times
Great Britain

Re: Hi-Fi Companies that lose themselves

Unread post by Stemcor1990 »

And the customer accepts the bull because he is told that this weeks/months/years product is better than last weeks/months/years......

User avatar
Dr Bunsen Honeydew
Posts: 30758
Joined: Wed Jul 11, 2012 7:26 pm
Location: Muppet Labs
Has thanked: 0
Been thanked: 48 times

Re: Hi-Fi Companies that lose themselves

Unread post by Dr Bunsen Honeydew »

Sometimes even a start up is dominated by bullshit. Normally a person has idea then they have a product and then they have a business. Not in all cases, most notable Linn rip-off someone elses idea and then bullshit it. Rega, salesman sees a gap in a market and bullshits it. Some are worst than others and levels of bullshit varies in both intention and subtlety. Rega v Linn is a classic example, but even though Linn was/is far worse, bullshit is bullshit.

User avatar
Lindsayt
Posts: 4213
Joined: Fri Jul 13, 2012 9:06 pm
Has thanked: 1079 times
Been thanked: 692 times
Nauru

Re: Hi-Fi Companies that lose themselves

Unread post by Lindsayt »

It can also happen to huge companies. For example, I think Sony has gradually descended to corporatism since co-founder Akio Morita retired in 1994.

User avatar
Fretless
Posts: 9290
Joined: Wed Nov 12, 2014 12:15 pm
Location: Somewhere in Holland
Has thanked: 1487 times
Been thanked: 2280 times
Netherlands

Re: Hi-Fi Companies that lose themselves

Unread post by Fretless »

Another case: Sansui - an audiophile brand in the 70's which descended to mass-marketing cheap and shoddy stuff in the 90's.

It will be interesting to see if the same fate is in store for Apple after the demise of Steve Jobs.
These users thanked the author Fretless for the post:
Lindsayt (Fri Apr 07, 2023 12:11 pm)

Upstairs:
Vinyl
Pro-Ject 1.2 + Grado Sig Jr + Cambridge Alva Duo
DigiVolumio PC + Kiss DP-500 + Sabaj A20d
NVA: P50sa - Cube2 - SSP - LS6+ Sabaj A10a (x2)
Downstairs:
Vinyl
Logic DM101 + Syrinx LE1 + Grado Sig MCX
DigiDenafrips Ares II + Volumio PC + Cambridge CXC
NVA: P50 - BMU+ Aiyima A07 MAX (x2) + Arcam One
HP: HifiBerry Digi+ PRO + Sabaj A10d
Office:
Allo DigiOne SIG + SMSL M300se + Douk G4 (x2)
Mission 760 + Monolith THX AAA 887
Headphones: German Maestro & AudioQuest

User avatar
Dr Bunsen Honeydew
Posts: 30758
Joined: Wed Jul 11, 2012 7:26 pm
Location: Muppet Labs
Has thanked: 0
Been thanked: 48 times

Re: Hi-Fi Companies that lose themselves

Unread post by Dr Bunsen Honeydew »

Japan is different because of "face", their prestige and how other Japanese companies viewed them was all important. SO most product was made to make profit and rip off the foreign devils, but some product especially for the home market, but also sometime for the USA, was produced for "face", and then you will rarely find anything better anywhere. Find those products, and very few were imported to the UK thanks to the flat earth brainwash bullshit, and you will have something very special.

The Japanese had white coats who knew what they were doing if they wanted to.

User avatar
Lindsayt
Posts: 4213
Joined: Fri Jul 13, 2012 9:06 pm
Has thanked: 1079 times
Been thanked: 692 times
Nauru

Re: Hi-Fi Companies that lose themselves

Unread post by Lindsayt »

And then there was the medium sized EMT that made its best products after founder Wilhelm Franz passed away in 1971. It was the changing market with Radio stations going digital that killed off EMT in the 1980's.

And JBL and Altec thrived for a long time after James Lansing died in 1949. Although today neither company are what they were in the 1940's to 1970's.

I suppose some companies have enough momentum to make great products for a while before they run out of steam.

User avatar
Dr Bunsen Honeydew
Posts: 30758
Joined: Wed Jul 11, 2012 7:26 pm
Location: Muppet Labs
Has thanked: 0
Been thanked: 48 times

Re: Hi-Fi Companies that lose themselves

Unread post by Dr Bunsen Honeydew »

Or if they have an ethos like the companies you mentioned and stick to it.

User avatar
jandl100
Posts: 773
Joined: Thu Jul 12, 2012 6:27 am
Has thanked: 1 time
Been thanked: 0

Re: Hi-Fi Companies that lose themselves

Unread post by jandl100 »

Someone with real passion and a Big Idea starts a small company, if it is lucky it gains a following and grows. Not that surprising in my view if the passion dies or leaves with the founder. Why should it not?

Personally, I think Spendor and the like have gone the same way. Profit and the mass market are big lures. I find it difficult to argue with someone wanting to make a good living for himself and his family. A decent product at a decent price is the best you can usually hope for.
Jerry - unrepentant boxswapper 8-) Life's too short for boring hifi !

Current system ... MBL 116F speakers, ... various and varying electronics and cables ... Laptop (TIDAL hirez)

Post Reply