JVC Kenwood announced in Japan that it has made a substantial investment valued at $300 million in the WiL Fund I, L.P., a company that it describes as a “venture investment consultation organization.” The company says it is partnering with WiL (World Innovation Lab) as part of a plan to find new potential acquisitions “to enhance growth in next generation development business.”
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Aim High Audio Appointed Reps for Denon, Marantz & Boston Acoustics in Southeast
Aim High Audio Sales & Distribution announced that they have been appointed the manufacturer sales representative of record for Denon, Marantz, and Boston Acoustic brands for the Southeastern states. The appointment is effective immediately and represents a pretty serious expansion of brands available through the Marietta, GA-based rep firm and distribution company.
See more on this unexpected change by D&M in the Southeast territory… [Read more…] about Aim High Audio Appointed Reps for Denon, Marantz & Boston Acoustics in Southeast
Gibson Brands Goes ‘Back to the Future’ to Celebrate 120 Years
Gibson Brands took advantage of the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas to make a bit of a show of their own to celebrate 120 years in business. The company, which serves up 23 different brands of musical instruments, professional audio products and, more recently, consumer electronics products, chose a unique way to mark the occasion by going “Back to the Future.”
See more on how Gibson chose to celebrate their 120-year anniversary… [Read more…] about Gibson Brands Goes ‘Back to the Future’ to Celebrate 120 Years
Amazing! Sony CEO Admits Company Failings – Says ‘Wow’ is Future
Sony’s CEO Kazuo Hirai gave a relatively compelling keynote presentation that was in stark contrast to their rather dry Mike Fasulo and unemotional press conference. Not only was Hirai dynamic and at times, emotional even – he competently and capably articulated a new and strong vision for the company based on the Japanese word “kando” and the English word “wow.”
See the surprising twist in the Sony CEO’s presentation…including a moment that NO other Sony CEO would ever dare to try…admitting past product failures… [Read more…] about Amazing! Sony CEO Admits Company Failings – Says ‘Wow’ is Future
High End Amongst the High Rollers – Pass Labs Launches All-New X.8 Amplifiers at CES
Pass Laboratories, Inc., the company founded by renowned amplifier designer Nelson Pass, is out amongst the high rollers of Las Vegas with a new line of high quality amplifiers called the X.8 (Point 8) Series Amplifiers. With a design philosophy described as “music first,” Pass Labs says these amps were seven years in the making and are just now being launched at the Consumer Electronics Show in the Venetian Tower, Room 34-209.
See more details on these spectacular amplifiers from Pass Labs… [Read more…] about High End Amongst the High Rollers – Pass Labs Launches All-New X.8 Amplifiers at CES
HiFiMan Lauches Two New Digital Music Players at CES
HiFiMan is an independent manufacturer of a variety of largely high-performance audio products. We first met the company two years ago at CES, and were amused and impressed with company founder Dr. Fang Bian. Bian is an enthusiastic lover of high quality music and created some superior digital media players and headphones to better reproduce it. Serious, but sincere, Bian’s company has launched two new interesting digital music players – one offering “reference” level performance…and the other a more affordable option for the music lover on a budget.
See more on these interesting new products from a digital audiophile company… [Read more…] about HiFiMan Lauches Two New Digital Music Players at CES
GoldenEar Continues Line Expansion, Launches New Triton One Flagship Speaker at CES
GoldenEar Technology is one of specialty audio’s success stories, launching only a few short years ago, in late 2010. Many industry insiders told us at that time that the industry had no room for yet another loudspeaker line. And yet, since GoldenEar launched, we’ve heard nothing but accolades from industry reviewers…and more importantly, dealers. We’ve also watched their dealer network, and their product line-up, continue to grow.
Now GoldenEar’s Sandy Gross has launched a new flagship model called the Triton One… [Read more…] about GoldenEar Continues Line Expansion, Launches New Triton One Flagship Speaker at CES
At CES: Samsung Shifts Emphasis from Smart TVs to Smart Home
Samsung’s press day conference was the most unusual we’ve seen with everything from a product that caused an audible gasp of amazement from the crowd…to one of their celebrity presenters running from the stage in mid-presentation. But we believe we detected a subtle but significant shift with their TV business being less prominent and more in balance with the company’s other products such as their appliance, computer, and mobile businesses.
See more on our initial impressions of Samsung below… [Read more…] about At CES: Samsung Shifts Emphasis from Smart TVs to Smart Home
Panasonic Gives the Back Seat to Consumers, at the Consumer Electronics Show
One of the bigger surprises on Press Day (the day before the show opens) at the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) was the Panasonic press conference. We were quite surprised when Panasonic opened their press conference at the consumer electronics show, talking at length about their non-consumer businesses.
Their official tag line at the event…Panasonic A Better Life. A Better World…seemed very generic and not particularly entertainment linked. But the more interesting tag phrase that we heard several times throughout the presentation was – Panasonic is more than a TV company…seemed to suggest that the company was distancing itself from its consumer TV business. Or at least, re-prioritizing their business segments as they spent the first several minutes of their presentation talking government, security, and commercial applications for Panasonic technology.
See more from this surprising Panasonic presentation… [Read more…] about Panasonic Gives the Back Seat to Consumers, at the Consumer Electronics Show
CES Opens to Press and Already…A Couple of Surprises
Press Day at CES is – to put it mildly – a bit of a grind. A seemingly never-ending series of scheduled press presentations that are scheduled one hour apart so the press can run from one supposedly 45-minute (of course they all run long) event to the next. The hallways often look more like a mosh pit as reporters, bloggers, and editors push, shove, and elbow their way to the next presentation hoping to get a seat close enough that the presenters don’t look like ants.
It’s easy to become jaded, as one sits through slickly produced, Hollywood-style presentation after another. Rarely, do we get surprised.
