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

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

Reaction to the Acquisition

  • Many commenters are dismayed, especially about Denon and Marantz, which are seen as core home-theater receiver brands in a small market with few serious players.
  • Some say these four brands combined going for $350M suggests the mid–high-end home audio market is small, shrinking, or under pressure.
  • A minority note that Samsung’s prior Harman acquisition (JBL, Revel, etc.) didn’t uniformly destroy quality and could even bring resources and modernization, though others dispute JBL’s current quality.

Samsung’s Reputation and Fears of Enshittification

  • Strong recurring theme: distrust of Samsung hardware quality (appliances, TVs, phones, old receivers) and deep dislike of its software: bloatware, buggy UIs, slow boot, ads, and forced updates.
  • Several people explicitly say they will now avoid these brands, expecting more DRM, telemetry, ad-driven UX, short support windows, and worse repairability.
  • A few contrast with generally positive long-term experiences with existing Denon/Marantz gear and fear that kind of stewardship will end.

Receivers, Soundbars, and Changing Home Audio

  • Broad agreement that soundbars and wireless ecosystems (Sonos, etc.) have eaten the low/mid receiver market; most households use TV speakers or a simple soundbar.
  • Some argue receivers are now mostly for:
    • Serious surround systems (5.1/7.1/Atmos),
    • Lossless audio, room correction, and multi-input setups,
    • Vinyl/CD and traditional hi-fi usage.
  • Others say the TV (or Apple TV/Roku) has become the “brain,” with receivers relegated to decoding/amplification; HDMI evolution makes frequent AVR upgrades painful.

Audio Quality, Mixing, and “Good Enough”

  • Many insist discrete surround with good speakers is vastly superior to soundbars; visitors often convert once they hear a well-set-up 5.1/7.1.4 system.
  • Others say a decent 2.1 or soundbar is “cinema enough” for normal living rooms, especially given poor modern movie/TV mixes (dialog too quiet, effects/music too loud, streaming compression).
  • Frequent complaints that contemporary content is mastered for streaming and small speakers, with channel separation and dynamic-range handling worse than earlier DVD/Blu-ray-era releases.

Vintage Gear and Non‑Smart Alternatives

  • Strong affection for 1970s–1990s receivers, amps, and speakers (Marantz, NAD, JBL, etc.) that still work and have no network, ads, or complex UIs.
  • Some recommend buying used hi-fi gear and dumb displays, avoiding smart-TV features entirely, or building DIY/Raspberry Pi–based frontends.

Consolidation, Brands, and Competition

  • Widespread concern about consolidation: many industries boiling down to a few conglomerates owning multiple “illusion of choice” brands.
  • Debate over how much brand still matters in audio: some say names like B&W, Denon, Marantz still signal quality; others point to strong “Chi‑Fi” (Topping, SMSL, etc.) eroding their value.
  • A few argue consolidation may be necessary in a shrinking, niche market; most worry it will reduce choice and accelerate enshittification.