Once a formidable name in the audio industry, Boston acoustics gradually disappeared from the scene.
So, the question that should come to your mind asking “what happened to Boston acoustics?”
D&M Holdings purchased Boston Acoustics in August 2005. Sound United LLC purchased D+M Holdings in March 2017. Since then, they have owned Boston Acoustics. In June 2018, SoundUnited stopped supplying Boston Acoustics products to retailers. Finally, in late 2018, the brand was written off.
Want to know more? Keep reading the article till the end for the climax. It won’t take more than a few minutes.
Let’s dig right in.
What Really Happened to Boston Acoustics?
Without giving any advance warning, Sound United stopped sending Boston products to retailers in June of 2018. Putting an effective end to the company’s run. But it’s hard to understand why it happened. That’s why there’s a lot of curiosity about the Boston Acoustics brand, just like house music.
Products by Boston Acoustics can still be purchased on Amazon.com and other retail sites. They continued the sales up to October 17, 2018.
Boston Acoustics was a brand written off by Sound United as soon as the stock ran out.
What Happened To Boston Acoustics Car Audio?
Boston Acoustics exiting the car audio industry created a big headline. The business will keep its original equipment manufacturer (OEM) automobile partnerships. but will shift its attention to its home audio devices.
The statement suggests that the decision was made for financial reasons, as Boston, like other corporations, is responsible to its shareholders.
Moneymaking is the name of the game in modern times. This might mean either reducing costs or growing sales. It’s too bad the company’s leaders don’t consider the aftermarket vehicle audio industry a potential source of revenue.
Who Owned Boston Acoustics?
Before it became defunct, Sound United owned the whole company. At first, the D+M group bought Boston Acoustics from the original owner. This was back in 2016 when Boston Acoustics was struggling financially.
Sound United bought the D+M group in March 2017. They also own other sound manufacturers like Polk Audio and Definitive Technology. So, now all these brands are under the same umbrella.
Before shutting down Boston Acoustics in 2018, they handled all of their productions.
Boston Acoustics: Company History
Boston Acoustics, Inc. has carved out a respectable market share among heavy hitters.
Its success can be attributed to its cautious expansion and debt-free management. As well as to the reliability of its products and the reliability of its network of independent dealers as opposed to chains.
Boston Acoustics was relatively unknown outside of the audiophile and stereo enthusiast communities. This was until the company’s astoundingly high-profit margins caught the attention of the stock market in the 1990s.
The Foundation of the Boston Acoustics Company:
Andy Kotsatos, then 28 years old, was working as the credit manager for KLH’s R&D department in 1968. KLH was a speaker manufacturer.
There, he met Frank Reed, the assistant sales manager, who was seven years his senior. Within a year of meeting one another, the two men had left KLH and were both working for Advent Corporation due to the complementary nature of their personalities.
Both Reed and Kotsatos advanced in their careers at Advent; Reed became vice president of sales and marketing. While Kotsatos switched to a more technical role in speaker design.
In that role, he was instrumental in developing the Advent Loudspeaker, which was state-of-the-art in the field of stereo speakers at the time.
After leaving Advent in 1978, the two men set up Boston Acoustics in Lynnfield, MA the following year.
Eventually, the company’s most prestigious line of products, a line of high-quality speakers called Lynnfield, would be named after the city where it was founded.
Meanwhile, Kotsatos and Reed started stamping their growth and management tenets onto the business’s marketing, finances, and distribution.
Development of “Boston Sound”
Kotsatos and Reed’s cautious spending and saving guaranteed they never ran out of money. The two firm owners declined bankers’ loan offers. All short-term loans were repaid in March, clearing the slate for April 1.
Boston Acoustics launched quality home and vehicle speakers with excellent finances. This required R&D.
Nobody dominates the stereo speaker market. Instead, corporations compete fiercely, especially in the market for pricey speakers for audiophiles. A rival in such a market must introduce inventive new items to survive technologically.
This was true in 1979, before the consumer electronics boom. Boston Acoustics’ founders allocated 5% of revenue to R&D.
The company’s design and engineering teams worked hard to create “the ultimate mimic of sound.”
Excellent speakers employ a woofer for low frequencies, a tweeter for high frequencies, and a midrange for middle frequencies. Boston Acoustics’ R&D was like the woofer: up front, low profile, and the initial point of client contact.
Without efficient distribution, goods would suffer.
Boston Acoustics avoided huge chains in favor of approved distributors, most of whom managed small, privately owned businesses.
In 1995, CEO Frank Reed told Barron, “If you’re a Boston Acoustics dealer, no one else is going to a dealer who is not in your image and likeness.”
This encouraged long-term commercial relationships and personal involvement. Boston Acoustics sets more robust criteria for product presentation and sales and dealers’ technical understanding. Most likely, the speaker seller will give maintenance.
Boston Acoustics avoids expensive publicity efforts by relying on word-of-mouth. It was a direct-marketing network that advertised to retailers, who propagated word-of-mouth. The company’s 18-year revenue was $50 million.
Kotsatos and Reed’s murky financial management dominated the company. Their implementation guided the company’s growth throughout the 1980s and 1990s.
Steady & Conservative Growth Period:
Boston Acoustics’ low-key marketing has only attracted audiophile magazines. In Barron’s 1995 profile of Boston Acoustics, the reporter looking for Orson Welles’ recluse in Citizen Kane: “We buzzed Boston Acoustics last week, keen to learn how it makes money.”
Kratos and Reed gave simple, hard answers. Kotsatos attributed their success to high-quality speakers, but many companies make excellent products without Wall Street-level profits.
In the 1980s, Boston Acoustics grew. Profit margins reached 14 cents per dollar in the early 1990s.
Their company shows they’ve avoided growth for growth’s sake. When asked if Boston Acoustics planned to acquire another company, Reed said, “I wouldn’t take on a company I know nothing about” (which it did in 1996).
He didn’t want to adopt Wall Street’s discount-based sales strategy. He said consumers would expect deep speaker discounts. An audiophile who bought old speakers on sale may wait a long time before buying new ones.
After seven years in business, he and Kotsatos took the company public in 1986. Barron says a $2 Boston Acoustics share bought after the 1987 crash was worth $23 in 1991. Impressive growth.
It went global. In March 1989, Boston Acoustics formed a USVI subsidiary. Canada, South America, Europe, and Asia were authorized dealers.
Growing Pains in the 1990s of Boston Acoustics
The corporation improved its products in the 1980s and 1990s despite the slow expansion. Reed overuses tech. Boston Acoustics was “as automated as any North American speaker company” by the mid-1990s.
Boston Acoustics created 1 dB woofers as opposed to the 3 dB industry standard. Boston Acoustics made Peabody and outsourced speakers.
1997 was the company’s debut. Lynnfield is $5,000/pair. Home speakers cost $150 to $1,400. $50-$650 buy automobile speakers. Designer series flush-mounted lights cost $130 to $500.
CES and Car Stereo Review recognized Boston Acoustics. Boston Acoustics was one of America’s 200 top small businesses in 1990. They lost popularity in the late 2010s.
That’s why just like Discogs platform’s legitimacy, it’s hard to assess whether Boston Acoustics is worth it anymore.
Mid-1990s growth difficulties proved the founders’ caution. After moving from Lynnfield to Peabody in 1995, profit margins fell. Boston Acoustics’ first acquisition caused minor growth issues.
On June 21, 1996, Reed purchased Haverhill’s Snell Acoustics. Reed was named Boston Acoustics’ marketing vice president and CEO. (“We expect a rival”) On March 29, 1997, despite increased sales, the parent company’s profits dropped due to Snell’s losses.
Dorothy died in 1997. 898,000 Reed family shares were repurchased for $24 million on June 13. Paul F. Reed oversaw admin services.
Was Boston Acoustics a Good Brand?
In the world of sound, Boston Acoustics is a name that needs no introduction.
However, after doing an extensive examination of some Boston Acoustics A-series speakers, we can happily report that they disprove many of the negative clichés.
And that is commonly associated with budget-friendly speaker systems.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Why Did Boston Acoustics Stop Making Car Audio?
To that end, it will maintain its OEM agreements in the automotive sector even as it shifts its attention to its home audio products. From the statement, we can infer that this is a business decision, as Boston is answerable to its shareholders like any other corporation.
Is Audioengine a good brand?
Audioengine is a reputable company that consistently receives positive reviews for its products and services. Their dedication to their customers in the event of a problem is unmatched, so you may buy one of their items with confidence.
When did Boston Acoustics go out of business?
As of October 17, 2018, you could still buy Boston Acoustics products on Amazon.com and other sites. Sound United, which owns Denon, Polk Audio, Marantz, Bowers & Wilkins, Wilkins, Definitive Technology, Heos, Boston Acoustics, and Classe, let Boston Acoustics go out of business when their stock ran out.
Conclusion
It will be all about what happened to Boston acoustics. After a meteoric rise in the 80s and 90s, they suffered significant losses. Especially during the 2010s.
After a long term of service, the company was written off just like any other bankrupt one.
See you soon.
