Why Harmon Kardon???
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From: California
2000 CLK430 Coupe
Why Harmon Kardon???
Why is MB switching from Bose to Harmon Kardon for the premium sound system? I just bought my wife a Bimmer w/ Harmon Kardon premium sound, and it's premium crap. I hope the MB and HK engineers do a better job than BMW. I thought the Bose systems in prior MB models sounded quite nice.
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sl and M-class E320 4Matic SLK350
Tie-in
I believe it is because of a tie-in that Harmon has with Becker. I understand Blaupunkt and Bose have a similar tie-in, but Mercedes has always favored working with Becker since I suspect Becker is somehow financially allied with Daimler-Benz. It was probably just a matter of time before Merceds would gravitate to Becker and they probably didn't do it sooner because of patents or licensing agreements that had tied Becker's hands. This is all somewhat speculative based upon prior experience.
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2000 CLK430 Coupe
Bed Fellows
Yep, I agree that the change has to do with some type of existing relationship. Not sure if it is actually Becker, but more like JBL which owns Harmon Kardon and Infinity.
I remember that Chrysler used Infinity products quite heavily and with that relationship I would bet that had some influence on price points for the Daimler/Chrysler Execs. In fact, I read an article sometime back which stated that Chrysler accounted for 50% of Infinity's revenues. Plus, since Infinity and Harmon Kardon consider themselves "high-end" (I beg to differ), they [JBL] are probably salivating from the marketing aspect on this partnership with MB.
Go figure, Lexus has partnered with Mark Levinson audio. Now that seems more of a "high-end" complimentary partnership. I guess MB can learn somethings from the Lexus product development folks.
I remember that Chrysler used Infinity products quite heavily and with that relationship I would bet that had some influence on price points for the Daimler/Chrysler Execs. In fact, I read an article sometime back which stated that Chrysler accounted for 50% of Infinity's revenues. Plus, since Infinity and Harmon Kardon consider themselves "high-end" (I beg to differ), they [JBL] are probably salivating from the marketing aspect on this partnership with MB.
Go figure, Lexus has partnered with Mark Levinson audio. Now that seems more of a "high-end" complimentary partnership. I guess MB can learn somethings from the Lexus product development folks.
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BMW 330Ci
actually, Levinson is owned by Harmon
Levinson was purchased by Harmon International (who owns JBL, and HK) several years back (much to the grief of audiophiles). This link gives you a list of their brands:
http://www.harman.com/brands/index.jsp
here's a short list of the brands owned by Harmon: JBL, Proceed, Infinity, Lexicon, Revel, Levinson, Becker, Harmon-Kardon
Mark Levinson sold his name and company to Harmon, and has started a smaller more focused company called Red Rose; you can check out his new site at www.redrosemusic.com .
My surprise is that Mercedes chose to go with HK rather than Levinson, since both are sister companies under the same umbrella parent. Quite possibly, they're reserving Levinson as a high priced option?
http://www.harman.com/brands/index.jsp
here's a short list of the brands owned by Harmon: JBL, Proceed, Infinity, Lexicon, Revel, Levinson, Becker, Harmon-Kardon
Mark Levinson sold his name and company to Harmon, and has started a smaller more focused company called Red Rose; you can check out his new site at www.redrosemusic.com .
My surprise is that Mercedes chose to go with HK rather than Levinson, since both are sister companies under the same umbrella parent. Quite possibly, they're reserving Levinson as a high priced option?
Last edited by SCwolf; May 29, 2002 at 11:00 AM.
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From: Toronto
SLK 350 '05
This is off topic but.....
Didn't Red Rose Music change their products b/c the main designer of the Tube Amplifier(which is awesome) leave the company? and the R3 speakers were also changed because Dynaudio wouldn't supply the woofers to other companies??
just curious
Juke
just curious
Juke
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BMW 330Ci
so that's why they went to solid state
i havent been in touch with the audio world for a year or so, and was wondering why their product lines looked so different
makes sense now... it's too bad about the tube gear, it looked promising
makes sense now... it's too bad about the tube gear, it looked promising
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Re: actually, Levinson is owned by Harmon
Originally posted by SCwolf
My surprise is that Mercedes chose to go with HK rather than Levinson, since both are sister companies under the same umbrella parent. Quite possibly, they're reserving Levinson as a high priced option?
My surprise is that Mercedes chose to go with HK rather than Levinson, since both are sister companies under the same umbrella parent. Quite possibly, they're reserving Levinson as a high priced option?
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BMW 330Ci
that is a good point, but isnt HK now..
closely tied to BMW, since they've been the hi-end audio option for BMW for the last several years? the new 745i HK audio matches or even surpasses Lexus' ML option from what i've read in the magazine reviews
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From: California
2000 CLK430 Coupe
Why HK?
I hope it's not the same HK model or line that is in my wife's 2002 330ci. I'm not impressed by it. The Bose system in my 2000 CLK430 sounds 100 times better than my wifes Bimmer.
I'm not a proponent of Bose, but I just want something that sounds pretty good, especially if I'm paying extra and it is classified as "Premium Sound". Maybe the world "Premium" only refers to the price.
I'm not a proponent of Bose, but I just want something that sounds pretty good, especially if I'm paying extra and it is classified as "Premium Sound". Maybe the world "Premium" only refers to the price.
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it should at the very least be an option
the optional HK that's the "best" available on the 3 series isnt "bad" but it's not that much better than the good Bose systems around; I believe MB will at least have that standard HK one, the real question is whether MB will also offer the true "high end" version only available on the 745i
