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Samsung is paying $350M for audio brands B&W, Denon, Marantz and Polk

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Re: Samsung is paying $350M for audio brands B&W, Denon, Marantz and Polk

#171

Post by jajko »

trentnix wrote: post #77

Now there are more avenues for Samsung to shove bloatware down our throats. I have a modestly high-end home theater and it is utterly maddening waiting for devices to “boot” and “handshake”. And after the wait, I’m presented with another “User Agreement” to sign that insists on shoveling ads down my throat and harvesting data. How much do you have to pay for a quick boot, no ads, and a private movie or music experien…

Not sure what you are complaining about, I have Samsungs surround soundbar, they are amazing for the price (apart from fuckup with forced updade bricking the bar, but I'd never ever update soundbar or similar tech if it just works... why? There is never any gain just potential risks, I don't do ebanking via soundbar ffs).

My TV is just a rather basic chinese 75" TCL, and I have absolutely 0 zilch ads anywhere apart from actual Google products (youtube of course but thats a terrible experience anywhere without ublock origin or similar, and OS showing on the background in main menu ads for their paid movies - the place I spend maybe 3s during start if at all and they don't even look like ads just background). If I launch straight ie netflix 0 nanoseconds spent seeing ads. If I play from USB there is nothing. And this is rock bottom chinese stuff.

Turning on TV which is in sleep mode is like 2s max, another 2s and soundbar is on automatically via eArc.

I used to have B&W towers with Pioneer receiver (bought for peanuts, older tech sounds 100% as new one) but then I realized they add friction to whole experience and I prefer a small notch lower sound quality to convenience and surround. Samsung soundbar with that TV does that 100%. Apart from playing music only I don't even notice the difference.

Is this maybe region specific behavior? I live in Switzerland, US consumers are widely known to accept way more ads than other western countries, plus there is a lot of wealth in that single market.

Have a 10TB movie collection on an external HDD (mostly 1080p x265 rips and few 4K ones) but its less convenient and I have to download new stuff myself. Plus I love standup collection Netflix has.

Total price cca 1.5 years ago - cca 1700$ and a proper cinema experience.

Re: Samsung is paying $350M for audio brands B&W, Denon, Marantz and Polk

#172

Post by ralfd »

AstralStorm wrote: post #160
DaiPlusPlus wrote: post #157

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> you are being unnecessarily disingenuous I'm not, honestly. Think of AVR-integrated radio receivers and hi-fi CD players: a typical appliance-grade (non-raster) VFD/LCD display is sufficient for navigating through radio stations and CD tracks; I will admit that Alexa-style voice-control can work quite well for online services like Spotify or Apple Music, but even then I find myself frequently needing to reach for m…

It also introduces a lot of fragility into the ecosystem. If your TV fails (which does happen sometimes), you're suddenly without access to almost all features of the hardware? Unacceptable.

Unacceptable? How often does that happen (> 10 years?) without one having an old computer lcd from 2016 as backup in the cellar? Or a dirt cheap mini hdmi 7-inch replacement ordered overnight on Amazon?

Aside my guess is the Apple TV does usually work “headless” in OP use case with music playing controlled from his phone. One only needs a tv for streaming video (obviously) and I think for initial setup.

Re: Samsung is paying $350M for audio brands B&W, Denon, Marantz and Polk

#173

Post by mihaaly »

trentnix wrote: post #77

Now there are more avenues for Samsung to shove bloatware down our throats. I have a modestly high-end home theater and it is utterly maddening waiting for devices to “boot” and “handshake”. And after the wait, I’m presented with another “User Agreement” to sign that insists on shoveling ads down my throat and harvesting data. How much do you have to pay for a quick boot, no ads, and a private movie or music experien…

> How much do you have to pay for a quick boot, no ads, and a private movie or music experience?

Beyond the speaker and amplifier of your choice (both dumb! or dumbed down) a few hundreds of USD and couple of weeks or months of learning and tinkering with low cost hardware and open source software for HiFi use. Some Raspberry Pis and matching DAC allowed me to have a very decent experience I needed (around KEF speakers). There were dead-ends, confusions, restarts, dubious or closed down solutions offered but you will rely moslty (not completely) on your own in the end if done right, and not exposed to the mercy of ruthless conglomerate assoles that much.

Re: Samsung is paying $350M for audio brands B&W, Denon, Marantz and Polk

#174

Post by wildekek »

drodgers wrote: post #121
mrandish wrote: post #111

I'm a little surprised these four companies combined sold for only $350M.

Unfortunately the market is quite small and shrinking. I wish more people wanted great sound rather than phone/tv speakers (or soundbars).

What also contributes to this, is that there are new (Chinese) players on the market that offer incredible value for audiophiles. Brands like Topping, Fosi Audio and SMSL completely outperform the incumbent brands.

Re: Samsung is paying $350M for audio brands B&W, Denon, Marantz and Polk

#175

Post by greggsy »

ralfd wrote: post #172
AstralStorm wrote: post #160

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It also introduces a lot of fragility into the ecosystem. If your TV fails (which does happen sometimes), you're suddenly without access to almost all features of the hardware? Unacceptable.

Unacceptable? How often does that happen (> 10 years?) without one having an old computer lcd from 2016 as backup in the cellar? Or a dirt cheap mini hdmi 7-inch replacement ordered overnight on Amazon? Aside my guess is the Apple TV does usually work “headless” in OP use case with music playing controlled from his phone. One only needs a tv for streaming video (obviously) and I think for initial setup.

Exactly, people upgrade their telly years before they reach the end of their functional life

Re: Samsung is paying $350M for audio brands B&W, Denon, Marantz and Polk

#176

Post by AIoverlord »

frontalier wrote: post #155
DaiPlusPlus wrote: post #153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How do you use it without needing a TV or display to navigate the UI?

you are being unnecessarily disingenuous gp is most likely using a display that quickly boots into "source" mode – think hdmi input

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Re: Samsung is paying $350M for audio brands B&W, Denon, Marantz and Polk

#177

Post by AIoverlord »

Mistletoe wrote: post #96
trentnix wrote: post #77

Now there are more avenues for Samsung to shove bloatware down our throats. I have a modestly high-end home theater and it is utterly maddening waiting for devices to “boot” and “handshake”. And after the wait, I’m presented with another “User Agreement” to sign that insists on shoveling ads down my throat and harvesting data. How much do you have to pay for a quick boot, no ads, and a private movie or music experien…

This is why I love vintage audio. I’m sitting here listening to classical on FM radio on my Marantz 2215B made in the 1970s and it is what you are describing and sublime.

[dead]

Re: Samsung is paying $350M for audio brands B&W, Denon, Marantz and Polk

#178

Post by robertlagrant »

trentnix wrote: post #77

Now there are more avenues for Samsung to shove bloatware down our throats. I have a modestly high-end home theater and it is utterly maddening waiting for devices to “boot” and “handshake”. And after the wait, I’m presented with another “User Agreement” to sign that insists on shoveling ads down my throat and harvesting data. How much do you have to pay for a quick boot, no ads, and a private movie or music experien…

> Just like every retailer has embraced usury with their credit card programs

What does this mean?

Re: Samsung is paying $350M for audio brands B&W, Denon, Marantz and Polk

#180

Post by [deleted] »

DaiPlusPlus wrote: post #153
hapticmonkey wrote: post #150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

AppleTV running Apple Music connected to my Marantz AVR. No ads. No privacy concerns. I get lossless stereo where available and Atmos on selected tracks. It's great.

How do you use it without needing a TV or display to navigate the UI?

[deleted]
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