[Jason]

BIMMERPOST NEWS

Harman acquires Bang & Olufsen Automotive

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June 1, 2015 06:01 CET Harman Industrial Industries Inc., a supplier of infotainment, audio and software services, said it has completed the $156 million acquisition of Bang & Olufsen Automotive, a Danish supplier of audio products to luxury automakers.

Harman announced the deal in March. At the time, the U.S. company said it would pay 145 million euros ($156 million) for the unit as well as technology license fees, Bloomberg reported.

Bang & Olufsen Automotive supplies audio and infotainment products to major luxury automakers including Audi, Aston Martin, BMW and Mercedes-Benz.

“The additions of Bang & Olufsen and B&O PLAY as distinctive and renowned brands will complement our existing premium branded offerings and strengthen Harman’s position as a leader in this segment,” Harman CEO Dinesh Paliwal said in a statement.

The acquisition is effective today, Harman spokesman Darrin Shewchuk said.

Bloomberg contributed to this report.

via Automotive News

[ChrisMT79]

Well hopefully this improves some of the terrible "upgraded" sound system options.

[mshab356]

Interesting. I'm curious to see how Harman will improve the B&O brand and technology. B&O is already great, but if HK can add in their tech and make it even better...hopefully add more wattage to the upgraded systems...

[M3 Number 86]

I was in the interview process at Harman International a couple weeks ago and I withdrew from final rounds because I didn't want to make a lateral move (again).

This company acquires other companies left and right almost every year, so not surprising.

[Pauleebe]

Interesting, so I guess we will only get one real sound system upgade option going forward.

[Revcrazy]

Originally Posted by ChrisMT79

Well hopefully this improves some of the terrible "upgraded" sound system options.

Agreed. BMW car audio is a joke.

Neither of these two companies are anything special with whats out there overall but the B&O I had in my S4 blew away the 'upgraded' sound in my e92 M3s.

[Golden Arrow]

This is big. Think of how many car manufacturers utilize B&O, or Harman stereo systems. They now own all of those orders.

Heck, maybe we'll get better speakers in the future.

[bim2er]

Harman Brands - Good Company to Be In

Aha™
AKG®
AMX®
Becker®
BSS®
Crown®
dbx®
DigiTech®
Harman Kardon®
Infinity®
JBL® - Lifestyle
JBL® - Professional
JBL Synthesis®
Lexicon® - Lifestyle
Lexicon® - Professional
Mark Levinson®
Martin®
Redbend®
Revel®
Selenium®
Soundcraft®
Studer®

[Crashnbrn5]

Originally Posted by dwalls90

Interesting, so I guess we will only get one real sound system upgrade option going forward.

With all the different models they have, they should offer 3 different upgrades, 3 on top of the base I'm saying.

Base Sound system 275 Watts, 8 speakers, no surround, no sub-woofers

Option 1 400 Watts 10 speakers $600 with 1 100 watt Sub, 300w for the speakers

Option 2 800 Watts 12 speakers $1400 with 2 250 total watt subs, 550w for the speakers

Option 3 1200 Watts 16 speakers $2800 with 2 500 total watt subs, 700w for the speakers

I think this is smart and reasonable.

What do you think guys?

[bimme.ahead]

Originally Posted by Crashnbrn5

With all the different models they have, they should offer 3 different upgrades, 3 on top of the base I'm saying.

Base Sound system 275 Watts, 8 speakers, no surround, no sub-woofers

Option 1 400 Watts 10 speakers $600 with 1 100 watt Sub, 300w for the speakers

Option 2 800 Watts 12 speakers $1400 with 2 250 total watt subs, 550w for the speakers

Option 3 1200 Watts 16 speakers $2800 with 2 500 total watt subs, 700w for the speakers

I think this is smart and reasonable.

What do you think guys?

Plain and simple..I think that's too many options...

[Vigilant]

Originally Posted by bim2er

Harman Brands - Good Company to Be In

Aha
AKG
AMX
Becker
BSS
Crown
dbx
DigiTech
Harman Kardon
Infinity
JBL - Lifestyle
JBL - Professional
JBL Synthesis
Lexicon - Lifestyle
Lexicon - Professional
Mark Levinson
Martin
Redbend
Revel
Selenium
Soundcraft
Studer

Agree...every JBL and Infinity product I have purchased has always surpassed my expectations.

[akhter]

this is bad.

two companies that were competing for hi end sound are now one. so now all car audio is either HK or bose (B&W/meridian/burmiester are too small). lack of competition=fewer choices=crappier hifi for us

[akhter]

Originally Posted by Crashnbrn5

With all the different models they have, they should offer 3 different upgrades, 3 on top of the base I'm saying.

Base Sound system 275 Watts, 8 speakers, no surround, no sub-woofers

Option 1 400 Watts 10 speakers $600 with 1 100 watt Sub, 300w for the speakers

Option 2 800 Watts 12 speakers $1400 with 2 250 total watt subs, 550w for the speakers

Option 3 1200 Watts 16 speakers $2800 with 2 500 total watt subs, 700w for the speakers

I think this is smart and reasonable.

What do you think guys?

lol that is the worst idea.

they don't need so many choices.

1) base with 6 speakers (mid+tweeter up front and mids in the rear).
2) hi end with 11 speakers (center/mids+tweeter+sub in front and mid+tweeter in the back)

thats is more than enough speakers if they are decent quality.

[dicker]

Well BMW is using B&W for the new 7, this may trickle down into the next 5 and 6.

[raysspl]

Will be interesting how this pans out in the long-term. Either way, I personally never order upgraded audio for most of the reasons stated above & yes -- I'm a huge audiophile & instrumentalist. I always thought the standard audio BMW system is already 'good enough'

+ when I drive my cars I have family / friends with me & I have the audio in low volume in nearly all occasions, because you know, we talk inside the car

[PoutineMachine]

Originally Posted by Revcrazy

Agreed. BMW car audio is a joke.

Neither of these two companies are anything special with whats out there overall but the B&O I had in my S4 blew away the 'upgraded' sound in my e92 M3s.

Lexicon, Revel or Mark Levinson ring a bell? The Mark Levinson No. 32 was considered to be the voice of god for nearly a decade. The original Revel Salon regularly trounced speakers costing hundreds of thousands of dollars. Harman doesn't fuck around, they own some of the best audio companies in the business. I've heard a lot of cost no option audio setups in my life and few things compare to a full Levinson reference stack.

[Revcrazy]

Originally Posted by PoutineMachine

Lexicon, Revel or Mark Levinson ring a bell? The Mark Levinson No. 32 was considered to be the voice of god for nearly a decade. The original Revel Salon regularly trounced speakers costing hundreds of thousands of dollars. Harman doesn't fuck around, they own some of the best audio companies in the business. I've heard a lot of cost no option audio setups in my life and few things compare to a full Levinson reference stack.

Yes they do (too well, in fact), but those are luxury audio that are not comparable to what you find in cars for the most part. We are talking about what BMW has in their cars, and theyre not impressive by any standard.

The Mark Levinson Lexus has was great, but still not quite as good as Burmester.

[taibanl]

Not good news. They like cash cows. Not further r&d. Couldnt finish the project the started with ms-8

[JNoSol]

This is a good news. I'll wait for the B&O option to be available on the F8x. I hope it's not $5k.

BMW really needs to step up the game on the audio side. Acura's ELS 14-speaker system blows any BMW HK and B&O system out of the water. Yet it comes "standard" on a $54k RLX.

Example, HK shouldn't be "optional" on a F8x. Who the hell wants a shitty Hi-Fi sound system on a $60k+ car??? HK isn't much better for $875 more.

[Jay-K]

nice,
sound system should be more upgraded.

[Crashnbrn5]

Originally Posted by akhter

lol that is the worst idea.

they don't need so many choices.

1) base with 6 speakers (mid+tweeter up front and mids in the rear).
2) hi end with 11 speakers (center/mids+tweeter+sub in front and mid+tweeter in the back)

thats is more than enough speakers if they are decent quality.

you have no idea wtf you are talking about, just stop, lamo

In the "high end systems", they have 16-23 speakers and some have 2000 watts, look at the brand new Audi Q7 B&O system

http://www.bang-olufsen.com/en/car-a...ls/audi/new_Q7

and you chime in with 11 speakers, obv you are uneducated in this aspect brother

[Pentium]

I never had a sound system in any car better than my previous Audi A6 Bose.

It was unique and amazing!

Hopefully better systems are coming!