Samsung going Hi End

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Mechnutt

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A friend sent me an email with this from Paul McGowan from PS Audio-


"My friend Rick sent me an article in Digital Trends Magazine detailing how Korean giant Samsung is preparing an all out assault on high-end audio. They’ve amassed a star studded team of engineers to do battle:
When you think of Samsung, lots of things come to mind: televisions, phones, appliances… but one thing that probably doesn’t spring to mind is high-end audio, a category Samsung wishes to become number one in.
…the team is helmed by a fiery Canadian with a passion for X/Y graphs and sound wave diffraction… poached from one of the biggest names in audio, Harman (owner of Harman/Kardon, Infinity, and JBL). Along with him came 10 of Harman’s best, while other staffers jumped ship from the likes of Bang & Olufsen, Gibson, and Beats by Dre, among others.
​
Seriously? I nearly spilled my cup of coffee this morning.
This announcement would have passed me by with a yawn were it not for the words high-end audio. I am sure this is a fine team of measurementists who will likely make some good products aimed at what I would call the consumer audio industry. But saying they are targeting the high-end audio field is a little akin to suggesting a new product from McDonalds is designed to overtake the culinary arts.
It’s easy to bandy terms like high-end audio when what we mean is the upper reaches of consumer audio.
Not that it matters much, and maybe I am being overly protective of our niche, but I certainly don’t feel comfortable soiling the term by which we refer to our art by the likes of these guys.
Just sayin’."


 
Mechnutt,

Agreed.

High-end is subjective and in the ears of the beholder. None of the brands mentioned strike me as prominent on audio forums or at high-end audio shows.

Yes, "Glory Days" for some of them but that was decades ago. IMO
 
Samsung high-end? Does that imply an engineered mean-time failure rate of 4,000hrs instead of 3,000hrs? Samsung don't make serviceable product. They haven't since 2008. I don't believe the marketing...
 
I have immense respect for Samsung and a few other Korean companies. Having dealt with them in the manufacturing area, they have formidable resources at their disposal. Samsung has exceptional leadership with relentless focus. Just ask Apple what they think of Samsung. They will take on industry leaders bar none.

I have visited Korea and was surprised at their standards. Easily on par with Japan or Germany. Their industrial complex is a juggernaut with a high quality supply chain in all major industries. Unlike Japanese companies, Korean companies are open to suppliers & technology from other countries. Germany and Switzerland enjoy a significant trade with Korea. Bottom line is that high end in any field is well within Samsung's reach.

Regards.
 
Samsung already tried that in the 90s

http://www.thevintageknob.org/samsung-C-01.html
http://www.thevintageknob.org/samsung-M-30S.html
http://www.thevintageknob.org/samsung-SP-01.html

daily002290.jpg


1560655_665462443563440_5160099678845820004_n.jpg
 
Adam's pics of Samsung's aesthetic definitely have a MLevinson influence to them.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
All they have to do to be "high end" is slap a huge price on their equipment, aggressive marketing campaign and make the product look cool.

A company that large could in fact build a awesome piece of gear using the best parts available and the most modern manufacturing techniques and the gear could sound great BUT its name is not embedded in the world of audiophiles and there you have it. You know like Sony ES, Pioneer Elite and those gold tube Marantz units of yesterday verses the AR and Mac, today the masses want portable music and streaming Netflix.
 
I thought they took over the HE Market a few years ago with the Home Theater in a Box that had 2 Tubes that were not even in the signal path.

1112samhtib.tubes.jpg
 
I have no doubt that they can make something high end with them being a billion dollar company. The question is what do they consider high end and will their name hamper them (I suspect it will). Kind of reminds me when JVC came out with their Hi End HT Receivers like the DP-20VBK that they advertised as high current and Dynamic Super A. They were pretty good but they could not compete with the big boys in audio.
 
As regards to their name they don't have to brand their "high-end" line with the Samsung badge. TEAC launched the Esoteric Audio line and produces some of the best digital products in the space. Just like the car companies, you can have a mass product brand (Honda, Toyota, and Nissan) and you can have a high end brand targeted at a different and higher-end segment of the market (Acura, Lexus, and Infiniti). I think the crux of whether they put out true high-end audio depends on how they are defining "high end" as others have said and it's not necessarily about the price point but rather at the level of R&D and attention to detail to every aspect of the product (circuit design, use of best and very high tolerance parts, signal path designs, materials used for chassis work, etc...) and obviously also how it's branded/marketed/supported via dealers. But if from the original post, they are comparing themselves to Harman (and the brands listed within the Harman family - Harman, JBL, and Infinity - are the target competitive niche, then yes, that would be the top end of the consumer audio market and not the "high-end" audio market. They did not mention Revel as part of the brands within the Harman group, which is the only brand I consider as "high-end" within that portfolio of companies (along with AKG in headphone space). And if you look at the people that they hired and the companies they came from - Harman, Gibson, B&O and Dr. Dre Beats - then that tells you the segment they are targeting which is the high-end within mass market consumer audio.
 
cmalak said:
As regards to their name they don't have to brand their "high-end" line with the Samsung badge. TEAC launched the Esoteric Audio line and produces some of the best digital products in the space. Just like the car companies, you can have a mass product brand (Honda, Toyota, and Nissan) and you can have a high end brand targeted at a different and higher-end segment of the market (Acura, Lexus, and Infiniti). I think the crux of whether they put out true high-end audio depends on how they are defining "high end" as others have said and it's not necessarily about the price point but rather at the level of R&D and attention to detail to every aspect of the product (circuit design, use of best and very high tolerance parts, signal path designs, materials used for chassis work, etc...) and obviously also how it's branded/marketed/supported via dealers. But if from the original post, they are comparing themselves to Harman (and the brands listed within the Harman family - Harman, JBL, and Infinity - are the target competitive niche, then yes, that would be the top end of the consumer audio market and not the "high-end" audio market. They did not mention Revel as part of the brands within the Harman group, which is the only brand I consider as "high-end" within that portfolio of companies (along with AKG in headphone space). And if you look at the people that they hired and the companies they came from - Harman, Gibson, B&O and Dr. Dre Beats - then that tells you the segment they are targeting which is the high-end within mass market consumer audio.
Click to expand...


Agreed!
 
Samsung has all of the resources to be a contender if they choose to.
 
Mark...they certainly do. My take on it is based on who they are describing is in the "high end" market segment and based on which companies they hired talent from, it seems to me they are more focused on the top end of the consumer audio market, which is a different thing altogether from what we call "high end audio"
 
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