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Thread: Whats going on? |
    
Silver Member Username: Shawnharman
Post Number: 151
Registered: Dec-05
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| Posted on Thursday, January 17, 2008 - 10:45 pm: |
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is it just me or has harman kardon gone downhill in the last year or so? I heard they got bought out and now im seeing them on the K-Mart website! also at Target! I just got on there website and see they have added a new receiver to thier line the AVR-132 that model seems really cheap to me. it only clocks in at 21 LB'S
can it be possible that we will start seeing more light weight units? |
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Gold Member Username: Nickelbut10
Post Number: 1036
Registered: Jun-07
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| Posted on Thursday, January 17, 2008 - 10:57 pm: |
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H/K has been a mass market product for a few years now. It seems to be spreading. Too bad. Good for them I guess, as they will make lots of money. To my ears, the H/K stuff of the last few years does not sound as good as the old stuff they were making. Their A/V receivers still sound good for the money though. |
Silver Member Username: Shawnharman
Post Number: 152
Registered: Dec-05
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| Posted on Thursday, January 17, 2008 - 11:06 pm: |
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yeah they do Im just afraid if they start skimping on things now how will they sound a few years from now? I Hope they still keep up with the quality in future units only time will tell I quess |
Gold Member Username: Nuck
Post Number: 9612
Registered: Dec-04
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| Posted on Friday, January 18, 2008 - 07:20 am: |
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Have you seen the share value of Harmon International?
It had a one day drop of over 40% this week!
The ceo is out and it is a mess. |
Gold Member Username: Nickelbut10
Post Number: 1038
Registered: Jun-07
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| Posted on Friday, January 18, 2008 - 08:04 am: |
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Nuck, funny you mentioned that, I was just reading an article that was about how much trouble Harmon Corp is in. Pitty. |
Gold Member Username: Frank_abela
Berkshire
UK
Post Number: 2643
Registered: Sep-04
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| Posted on Friday, January 18, 2008 - 10:55 am: |
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Harman Kardon has become the lower end brand of the Harman International empire which includes Revel and Mark Levinson. They compete at almost all levels so there has to be a trade-off in quality at the lowest and the highest (when their other brands come into play). |
Bronze Member Username: Kbear
Post Number: 46
Registered: Dec-06
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| Posted on Friday, January 18, 2008 - 06:20 pm: |
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I looked a bit at the company's financials. It doesn't seem like they are in that much trouble. Profitable the last number of years, still forecasting profitability in 2008 (though down from '07), not a lot of debt. Hell, I'm tempted to buy the stock at these prices (though that would probably be a rash decision). They are slipping a bit it looks like, and they need to right things first, but the situation does not seem desperate to me. But that's only with a cursory look.
As for their gear, I agree it's ashame to see a brand like H/K cheapened the way it has been. I go to Best Buy or Future Shop and it's like there is no difference between H/K and Sony or JVC or LG. Those seem to be the brands they are competing against. H/K has the looks and feel (i.e. cheap) to match.
The same could be said for Denon, though not quite as much. It makes me wonder if Marantz is in the same boat, as they are owned by the same company that owns Denon. But it seems that they intend on protecting the Marantz name a bit more, as you can't find Marantz in a big box store and the look and feel of their gear is much superior than that of Denon or H/K.
I guess what's inside counts more though, and H/K seems to be known for great sounding and relatively powerful receivers. Still, if I'm buying an audiophile brand, I want it to look and feel like an audiophile brand, not some piece of junk from Wal-Mart. That's what tipped the scales to Marantz for me, their products look and feel more expensive than they actually are (and of course the sound quality and features is more or less on par with their competition). |
Gold Member Username: Nuck
Post Number: 9619
Registered: Dec-04
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| Posted on Friday, January 18, 2008 - 07:05 pm: |
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It's just the shareholders that took a 40% hit then Dan?
I considered buying some, but I do not see a rosy future in driving a name into the ground, regardless of product.
Harmon has been trading on that name for a long time, as well as JBL and the rest within the group, I don't see any future there during restructure, regardless of leadership or good avr's.
The market does not care about music or receivers, just hard #'s, and Harmon Int'l will fall far short of market estimates for a long time to come.
Unless the market estimates fall into line, which leaves HI devalued and not a good buy. |
Bronze Member Username: Kbear
Post Number: 49
Registered: Dec-06
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| Posted on Friday, January 18, 2008 - 08:38 pm: |
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Not sure what you mean by that first question, but I take it you mean the drop in share price. Then yes, only if you hold the stock will you be losing money on the drop in value.
Hard to say about the future. Analysts seem to think the company's excuses for reduced profits are weak and they can't seem to get a handle on rising costs. If true then those are not good signs, but again it's not like the company is on the verge of bankruptcy. They have time to implement new plans.
I guess one could say the H/K name is being driven into the ground, but I'm sure they look at it as making that a mass market brand and keeping their other brands more up-market. That probably makes good business sense I think - it's an easy idea, but a lot tougher to execute. |
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Gold Member Username: Frank_abela
Berkshire
UK
Post Number: 2650
Registered: Sep-04
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| Posted on Tuesday, January 29, 2008 - 11:00 am: |
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Analysts - I hate them. If a company says they'll make 3.5% profit and return 3.1% profit instead, the analysts go bananas and pull out. This happened just last month, but I forget who the company was that declared the numbers. Ridiculous. |
