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View Full Version : M&K out of business !!



Bandar
02-25-2007, 03:55 AM
M&K closed down their factory

According to their website As of Thursday, Feb 22, the M&K Factory is closed.

I have been using them for many years and delivery took longer in the last two years but when they came out with new range after moving to the new location i thought they are coming back strong,

really shame as i am fan for their products.

Kelly
02-25-2007, 11:52 AM
I, for one, am not surprised by this news. And I think you'll continue to see more of the same news with regards to many other companies in this business.



That said. Having a protected line is good, to a point.

Many that have been in this business for a long time will know exactly what I mean.

I'm sure with regards M&K there were other issues that brought about the downfall, but the OVERLY protected nature of the line could well have been a part of this downfall as well.

Theaterworks
02-25-2007, 12:38 PM
I, for one, am not surprised by this news. And I think you'll continue to see more of the same news with regards to many other companies in this business.



That said. Having a protected line is good, to a point.

Many that have been in this business for a long time will know exactly what I mean.

I'm sure with regards M&K there were other issues that brought about the downfall, but the OVERLY protected nature of the line could well have been a part of this downfall as well.

I'm confused by your point. At the various times I paid attention to M&K they were A) overprotected (I had to kiss up to the NSM to get the line for custom-only, after having done good business with him at my previous retail store), B) seen them go into the biggest discounting wh..., sorry, power retailer in the area, and C) be distributed through the local rep.

I presume you had trouble getting the line. Sorry to hear that, but there will always be more lines to get. The one thing I've found after moving from retail to custom was how much less important specific lines were, most especially speaker lines.

Yes, there will always be more speaker lines closing their doors. Some are too anchored in retail-centric marketing, or their lines are too heavy on box-type SKU's, and they can't or won't change course. I can name 'em, and so can you. Nonetheless, I just got a call from a rep last week to talk to me about a new startup speaker company, founded by a former NSM for a vendor many of us know, with a new speaker line with "breakthrough" technology. Zzzzzzz.........

Briremo
02-25-2007, 07:05 PM
Dang, I just sent in an amp for repair...

AHEM
02-25-2007, 09:43 PM
I'm confused by your point. At the various times I paid attention to M&K they were A) overprotected (I had to kiss up to the NSM to get the line for custom-only, after having done good business with him at my previous retail store), B) seen them go into the biggest discounting wh..., sorry, power retailer in the area, and C) be distributed through the local rep.


Back in the mid 90's, when I was working for an M&K dealer, and John Arce was NSM, everything was going great. In fact, in '96 or '97, we purchased something like 100K of M&K products, which made us one of the top 10 independents in the country. John even went out of his way to shut down a dealer in the area who was selling gray market goods.

Somewhere along the lines, John left and Ken Reingold was promoted to NSM, and (based upon my experience), he was an absolute....ahh, I'm not going to say it.

I'm not buying the "can't compete with China" argument that was made on AVS. There's no reason why a company as innovative as M&K couldn't have survived in today's market. Unless of course, they were grossly mismanaged.

Kelly
02-25-2007, 10:35 PM
There's no reason why a company as innovative as M&K couldn't have survived in today's market. Unless of course, they were grossly mismanaged.

And there it is.

While I think it's fine to protect a line, you first must support those dealers that support the line. And then you must take on new dealers as the market may dictate. Apparently this was not done.


My non-dealings with M&K are a fine example of mismanagement.

The first year CEDIA was in Indy I visited M&K. After inquiring about the line I was told that the rep would contact me. Rep never did.

There was NO dealer for the line within 75 miles of my area, yet the rep made no effort?

Since I needed a more upscale speaker line, and I had heard nothing from M&K, I went with a different line where the rep made the effort. (protected as well)....

My 3 cents......

tomciara
02-25-2007, 10:58 PM
The loudspeaker industry has gone from big cabinets to bookshelves, to sat/subs, to in-wall/in-ceiling...from larger to smaller.

It has also been an industry where if you wanted better speakers, you had to use a US, English, or Canadian company...the oriental speakers were pathetic...now many of our better U.S. brands are made in China.

Point is that the combination of big to small, U.S. to foreign manufacturing, to me means that we should lose about 50% of our predominantly cabinet making companies over the next 10 years. (That's a Mr. Fortune style prediction.)

M&K, Energy (still going "strong" but swallowed by Klipsch - we'll see more of that), who's next? Keep watching...

TedW
02-26-2007, 10:15 AM
I would not lump the failure of M&K in with the industry trend of failures and mergers. Anyone that watched the glut of product hit the market over the past ten years knew that eventually there would be a shakedown along the way.

In my opinion this is NOT the case with M&K. M&K is gone because the management just wasn't there. They had product and the expertise. Triad is the shining example of how to do it right. Their are few products out there that compare to a properly done M&K system and I for one will be sorry to see a company that's been around as long as M&K has been go out of business.

Theaterworks
02-26-2007, 11:09 AM
Funny you should say that. I was thinking about M&K's brand name value in the market over the weekend, and thought that it would be perfect for Triad to buy the brand and apply their manufacturing techniques and management to the M&K brand.

I'm pretty certain someone will buy the brand name, unless Ken Kreisel doesn't want it kicked around for sentimental reasons.

BlakeAV
02-26-2007, 01:09 PM
Anyone have the wall mounts for the s150 LCR and SS150 tri poles wall mounts.

I have a set (obviously) but i need to stick everything up on a wall so my 3 year old wont push in my drivers (again).

I could also use another set of rear channels for center rears. I like the ss150's for side rear but not center rears. Any suggestions? Or rather anything you have in stock you would like to suggest?

Bandar
02-26-2007, 02:18 PM
I received today an e-mail which was sent to all international distributor saying that M&K closed down and they can not fill any back order or current order !!

more information to follow as per the e-mail but i am glad i got my order for projects i am working on already.

Triad did try to buy M&K but deal didn't go through as i understood from one of Triad mangers.

I have to look for an alternative for M&K which we have always used with Lexicon.

kevinK
07-17-2007, 01:25 AM
FYI...

http://www.greatamerican.com/Services/auctions.aspx

TedW
07-17-2007, 07:12 AM
now that is bizarre.

Theaterworks
07-17-2007, 07:46 AM
Lots of speakers, a coffee machine, a car battery charger, framed Star Wars posters. The carcass of a great speaker company. Kind of sad.

Slightly off topic - I just moved a customer's old system out to begin demo on their theater, including an M&K 5000 THX system in great shape. It's likely the most valuable item they still had from their 12 year old installation.

TTT
07-18-2007, 09:07 AM
I understand that some of their range is already due for re-release in lower-cost, snazzier forms. Xenon, K series and one or two larger models by the end of the year in chinese-made cabinets finished in something other than black vinyl... In fact, last I heard, K series is due any time about now...

avzone
07-25-2007, 12:46 PM
Frozen ineffectualness from the netherlands has starspoker from marketing starpoker (http://youtube.com/watch?v=rKeUwitjj0Q) And better grasp how their blank really operates.Do what:confused:?