Bose buys McIntosh, storied maker of high-end luxury audio equipment

&gt; “There are places today where the Bose brand probably can’t go. Lamborghini is a great example of that,” Snyder said. “You really want the very best kind of cutting-edge technology to be in those luxury or highest-performing vehicles.”<p>I get why they want to be in cars like Lamborghinis. People who buy a car like that have no problem spending a lot on the sound system. But the cars are so noisy inside when driven, you aren&#x27;t going to be able to tell a McIntosh system apart from an AC Delco.

As an audiophile, I could see why some would see this as a horrible thing. But I&#x27;m not really worried.<p>McIntosh has been a higher end Bose for a while now. They live on their brand name and their blue glow, but amplifiers and dacs, really most electronics, have been a solved problem. And that solution has been slowly dropping in price for a while now. McIntosh&#x27;s gear has barely moved, which is because they&#x27;re way more fashion over function.<p>Bose, if they&#x27;re smart, will leave the brand intact and use their connections with car manufacturers etc to make them more prevalent. But, there&#x27;s already such a huge margin on their products, I think it&#x27;ll be a while before they try and cannibalize that for profit.

As a former Bose employee, I’ve been curious about how the company would evolve.<p>During my time at Bose, I focused on improving connectivity, a major pain point for consumers. However, as Apple invested heavily in the audio space, it introduced seamless integration within its ecosystem. The AirPods’ effortless connection, with its elegant pop-up when first paired, set a new standard for user experience that Bose struggled to match, given its lack of control over platforms like iOS or Android.<p>I always wondered how Bose would compete, and it’s clear that their strategy remains focused on the premium audio space.

one good thing that I heard about McIntosh, is that even after 10-20 years of owning it, you can contact their support to buy some spare parts for fixing, and they will sell and even would be helpful to figure out what exactly needed (even in case if you are not original buyer). Unlikely that Bose would be interesting continue doing that kind of level of support.

I bought a Bose home theater system but have been pretty unhappy with the purchase after spending $1500+. Poor visual aids, signal detection and touch controls, requiring frequent use of remote control due to flaky integration with the TV. The sound is very good but not exceptional. I hope they don&#x27;t ruin this other brand.

I&#x27;ve owned two Bose headphones and both broke in unnecessary ways, especially the second where the plastic headband connecting the drivers broke and they would not simply repair it but I had to buy a new pair (so I bought Sony instead). I tend to buy somewhat high end products and no other brand breaks like this or at all, so I would hate to think what a low-end Bose would be like.

Another consolidation that won&#x27;t make audiophiles very happy.<p>It also states Bose bought Sonus Faber as well.<p>Hopefully Bose doesn&#x27;t kill the brand by changing the label to Bose-McIntosh.

Bose is a &quot;premium&quot; brand in the same way that people who don&#x27;t know what high quality is buy expensive clothing with brand names think they&#x27;re buying high fashion. The reality is that Bose is wildly boosted in certain frequencies to be louder, not better.<p>I haven&#x27;t listened to a McIntosh system, but I know who they are from a friend who loved them and because they&#x27;re sold at the home theater shop where I buy my own equipment. They&#x27;re (as far as I know) an _actual_ premium brand, meant to represent the music faithfully.<p>This is an unfortunate purchase, as Bose will likely delude the value of the brand rather than absorb &#x2F; import the quality into their own brand.

McIntosh has my favorite logo of all time

So now they get to sell way lower end products with their newly purchased McIntosh logo slapped on with a huge markup! Everybody wins except the consumer!

Kinda funny that where I came from, Bose is already “high-end”…

Bose is a marketing company that happens to sell audio equipment, similar to how Oracle is a law firm that happens to sell software