Arcam now owned by Harman.

Blacksabbath25

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chebby said:
Arcam now owned by Harman (who are themselves a division of Samsung) ...

https://www.whathifi.com/news/arcam-acquired-harman-division-samsung
does this mean we can now buy ARCAM stuff at Samsung prices *drinks* mass production means cheaper products ( i do not think so )
 
Though I instinctively imagine these mergers and acquisitions are bad, I'm unable to recall any bad outcomes. Many brands, such as Quad and Wharfedale, might have vanished but for becoming part of a bigger group with international reach, and cash flow.

Naim seem to go from strength to strength - and I still can't imagine owning Focal speakers, except in my car! - and SME are clearly on a charm offensive, even if prices have been hiked. Not noticed anything different about B&W yet, have you?

Arcam clearly have some great intellectual property which I'm sure they'll gladly exchange for the support of a bigger group. Harman have certainly shown no signs of flagging.
 

Infiniteloop

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bigboss said:
I think this will benefit Arcam and Harman / Samsung. Arcam has been weak in the software but excellent in hardware and performance. Samsung is the other way round.

Samsung are terrible at software. They rely on Google for their OS and can't get Bixby to work at all.
 
Infiniteloop said:
bigboss said:
I think this will benefit Arcam and Harman / Samsung. Arcam has been weak in the software but excellent in hardware and performance. Samsung is the other way round.

Samsung are terrible at software. They rely on Google for their OS and can't get Bixby to work at all. 
For AV software, Samsung are amongst the best in the market. You should check out their Tizen OS and smartthings.

Yes, Bixby isn't up to scratch as yet, but remember it's very new to the market. Give it a couple of years.
 

chebby

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plastic penguin said:
Don't have any problem with takeovers or amalgamations. However, Arcam have a heritage of high quality, affordable components (hi-fi section) and as long as the merger doesn't compromise that...

You are aware - I assume - of Harman's heritage and what they can bring to Arcam too.
 
plastic penguin said:
Indeed. That doesn't automatically make it a happy marriage. There is always a period of 'bedding in' and it's this period (with any merger) that is the key area.

Indeed. Often the idea (not necessarily in this case) that "Oh dear my favourite manufacturer is now having its gear made in China" is enought to put some people off further purchase.
 

scene

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Agree with most of the comments so far...

Will need to wait and see what this does for Arcam - hopefully still get the same great hardware but without the painfully annoying software issues of the past...

Will be interesting to see if they'll be a full independent brand, or if it ends up like marantz/denon kind of set up. I do wonder if Samsung might pair them up with Mark Levinson to form a high-end AV division(ette) in Samsung
 
It doesn't really matter who owns who, as over the years, many British companies have been bought by larger, overseas companies. B&W and KEF have been foreign owned for years, even getting on for decades, and they've improved compared to where they were before that takeover. If it wasn't for GP Acoustics, Blades probably wouldn't be around, nor all the technology that has trickled down from them.

Most of these companies, whilst having some input from their new owners, are usually left to continue as they are with regard to product, so don't expect huge changes. And just because Samsung own Harman, it doesn't mean that every product under the Harman umbrella of companies will be Samsung based software.
 

Benedict_Arnold

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Harmon is all but washed up as a serious hifi brand. Mission got bought and it's products driven down to Argos levels. B&W speakers are sold at Bestbuy (the US Currys). Mordaunt Short disappeared entirely after it was bought out....

I suspect the Arcam brand will be used to heavily promote "new" but inferior products for two or three years then go the way of the aforementioned.

Here's hoping I am wrong...
 
Benedict_Arnold said:
Harmon is all but washed up as a serious hifi brand. Mission got bought and it's products driven down to Argos levels. B&W speakers are sold at Bestbuy (the US Currys). Mordaunt Short disappeared entirely after it was bought out....

I suspect the Arcam brand will be used to heavily promote "new" but inferior products for two or three years then go the way of the aforementioned.

Here's hoping I am wrong...
The US is different though isn't it. With B&W, their mainstream stuff might be in Best Buy, but I'll bet their 800 Series isn't. Over there, you pretty much have a straight divide - boxshifters and high end boutique type sellers. We have that here, but there's a whole middle ground that we have too, which covers a lot of what the US put into boxshifters. You guys are bigger on mail order over there due to there being the length of the UK between some major cities, whereas in the UK it's no more than 100 miles tops.

I think some brands that get bought out are already on their way down, and can no longer be taken seriously as a higher end brand, as much as some try to correct that.
 

manicm

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Al ears said:
plastic penguin said:
Indeed. That doesn't automatically make it a happy marriage. There is always a period of 'bedding in' and it's this period (with any merger) that is the key area.

Indeed. Often the idea (not necessarily in this case) that "Oh dear my favourite manufacturer is now having its gear made in China" is enought to put some people off further purchase.

A large chunk of Arcam's products have been made in China for nearly a decade now, if that's what you mean.
 

Blacksabbath25

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I wouldn't say Arcam is a affordable considering most people who just want to play music but without the high prices that Arcam sells there stuff for the cheapest amp and CD player they do is the Arcam A19 which sells around the £600 mark and the CD player the same and then your got to buy some speakers .

then your looking at around £1650 with cable thrown in for free if you get them free and that's buying a £300 pair of speakers + stands it's just the name that command the high price . Arcam I feel used to be really good when they made there stuff in the uk in 1990s .

now most of there stuff is made in China so can you still call it a British company ?

marantz pm6006 cd6006 sell around the £350 each mark £300 set of speakers + stands + cables = £1150 most normal people not mad like us lot would buy the cheapest thing or what they could afford as long as it plays music .
 

abacus

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If something is properly designed, (Doesn’t matter where) and standards are maintained on the production run, (Quality control) then it doesn’t matter where it is built, it will always sound the same. (The only difference if it was built in the UK, would be a higher price)

Bill
 
manicm said:
Al ears said:
plastic penguin said:
Indeed. That doesn't automatically make it a happy marriage. There is always a period of 'bedding in' and it's this period (with any merger) that is the key area.

Indeed. Often the idea (not necessarily in this case) that "Oh dear my favourite manufacturer is now having its gear made in China" is enought to put some people off further purchase.

A large chunk of Arcam's products have been made in China for nearly a decade now, if that's what you mean.

I wasn't referring to Arcam in particular but hifi components in general, but point taken.
 

matthewpiano

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The on-going consolidation of the market is no surprise and it's happening outside the hi-fi industry too. Look at the motor trade - it's been happening there for years, and the acquisition of Vauxhall by PSA (who own Peugeot, Citroen, and several currently redundant old brand names) is just the latest example. Where brand names have been consolidated under one owner for some time, you can even see increased product convergance now. The new Seat Ibiza, for example, looks much more similar to the Skoda Fabia and VW Polo than previously, and across the ranges of all 3 brands there seems to be a movement towards the individual marque characters being gradually lost.

Harman have considerable expertise, but they have also been guilty of licensing good brand names for use on all sorts of products so that, for example, you see cheap TVs in supermarkets claiming to have 'Sound by JBL'. They have also pretty much killed off the Harman-Kardon brand name as a serious hi-fi contender, focusing it on largely higher volume markets like home cinema, small audio and multimedia products, and in-car. Who knows what they will do with Arcam. Only time will tell, but with Harman's track record and the accountants at Samsung holding the purse strings, I'll be surprised if the original vision of Mr Dawson will properly hold true.
 

Benedict_Arnold

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Vauxhall and it's European sibling Opel were previously owned by the American behemoth General Motors (GM). GM acquired Vauxhall in 1925. Opel in 1929-31.

Just so you're clear on that.
 

Benedict_Arnold

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matthewpiano said:
The on-going consolidation of the market is no surprise and it's happening outside the hi-fi industry too.  Look at the motor trade - it's been happening there for years, and the acquisition of Vauxhall by PSA (who own Peugeot, Citroen, and several currently redundant old brand names) is just the latest example.  Where brand names have been consolidated under one owner for some time, you can even see increased product convergance now.  The new Seat Ibiza, for example, looks much more similar to the Skoda Fabia and VW Polo than previously, and across the ranges of all 3 brands there seems to be a movement towards the individual marque characters being gradually lost.

Harman have considerable expertise, but they have also been guilty of licensing good brand names for use on all sorts of products so that, for example, you see cheap TVs in supermarkets claiming to have 'Sound by JBL'.  They have also pretty much killed off the Harman-Kardon brand name as a serious hi-fi contender, focusing it on largely higher volume markets like home cinema, small audio and multimedia products, and in-car.  Who knows what they will do with Arcam.  Only time will tell, but with Harman's track record and the accountants at Samsung holding the purse strings, I'll be surprised if the original vision of Mr Dawson will properly hold true.
Virtually no major store in it's native USA stocks ANY H-K audio or AV kit any more. The brand has virtually disappeared.
 

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