Boston Acoustics Exits Car Audio Aftermarket

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Boston Acoustics, a 23-year fixture in the car audiophile market is exiting the 12 volt aftermarket as of April.  The company will instead focus on its home audio products including speakers, soundbars and radios, and will also enter new home audio categories, said  Sanjay Sharma, national sales manager of Boston Mobile Audio.

Boston AcousticsThe maker of GT amps and PRO speakers informed reps and key accounts this week, that it will exit the market by the end of April.  It has retained its manufacturer reps through that time period to ease the transition, it said.

Most of Boston’s inventory will be kept by the company to honor warranties.

Sharma said of the market exit, “This was not an easy decision.  We had analyzed both businesses and we were really focused on growth.  As a result we wanted to sharpen our focus on product categories related to the home.”

Boston Acoustics is owned by D&M Holdings which also owns Denon, Marantz, McIntosh Laboratory, Snell Acoustics and other brands.

Source: CEoutlook

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17 Comments

  1. You know whats funny is you screm keep this off the net but then you drop a line!
    Its also a protected dealers job to show why buying somthing online line is not a good idea. Warrenty is part of the problem and support after the sale.
    Manfactures just need to say buy it from a unauthorised scorce and you have no warrenty print it on the box like JL Audio did, also as a manfacture offer it online for people that don’t live in a city that has it, then do not compeat with you own dealers with it. As a manfacture put a comet on the package the likeness of the box or any part of the product is protected under copy right no reproduction of the product or a discription of said product may be publiched including the model number with out wretten concent of (said brand) like the National Football …. you Don’t see NFL on anything if it is somone gets sued!
    I’m sure a clever legal department can point a company in the right direction to protect anything. The manfacture will just have to track serial numbers and take legal action to dealers that voliate the rules. Also lets not set a limit on dealers and force them to buy x amt of product to meet the monthly quota, No one can forcast the ecomany and if anyone has spair money to burn up on extras like car audio, this will just force dealers to dump stock in the gry market then bitch about the sales on the internet selling below Map Pricing.
    Bye boston sad to see you go I wasn’t a big fan but its a big hole you making getting out of the car audio market, see you in the Home Pc market next you can fight with bose and B&W for market share.
    Look guys sales are down for everyone over the last few years deal with it figure a way to stay alive, hell offer you product to auto makers at a hudge discount for volume everyone knows factory speakers are trash and need some help for the most part. (that wasn’t aimed at a few qulity factory speakers out there) But lets face it slap infinity on a speaker don’t auto make it sound good if its slaped into a car by the manfacture.

  2. Shame on D&M. They killed a good brand. Boston mobile could have been a dominate brand had they paid attention to it. Perhaps it’s for the better, these guys probably would have put in Walmart. Who knows, maybe the home audio will end up there.

  3. As one of the top Boston dealers, but more than that, supporters of Boston Acoustics; we are sad to see them go. Yes our business has changed in many ways, but believe me, seeing QUALITY lines like Boston go away is not the answer. We worked closly with Sanjay and others and believe that he did all he could to turn this side of the division of the company around. With a little more time and of course money, and the continued redirection of the company, I believe that Sanjay could and would have been successful. Well Boston…THANKS FOR THE MEMORYS and all the KILLER systems, both sold and enjoyed in my own rides!

  4. A sad day indeed. I sold lots of Boston in the 80’s and early 90’s. It always seemed to be a class organization. I have fond memories of many of the reps and the great business we did back then. I always had a lot of respect for Dominic.

  5. It’s a sad day. I feel like I’ve lost a family member. I have been involved with Boston in one way or another since they first launched the brand. The Pro Series speakers helped to pay a lot of mortgage payments over the years.

  6. Before I got into this business, Boston Pro’s were the holy grail in 1990. Since then, had been a dealer for quite a few years. Dropped them last year after too much internet & ebay presence. Went back to Memphis, way more profit. That’s a protected line! Loved the Boston but when you turn it into a discount line and have dealers fighting online retailers this stuff is bound to happen. Dominick let the line go to crap when he went to all the sales and discount specials and didn’t bother to keep it off the internet. Sanjay said he was cleaning it up and we should have seen results by last Sept but it’s still all over the net. Too bad.

    Best of luck to the employees in the Boston Mobile dept!

  7. Disappointing,The loss of another great line. A line to which was viable,but with companies out there,(online) which basterdise pricing,this situation will keep on happening.

  8. Working for a company that has carried BA since the begining, it will be missed. I recieved my first speeding ticket trying to get to the store before closing so i could buy my first pair of aftermarket speakers (RC690’s?). We have a very loyal customer base, it will be missed.

  9. A protected brand? Are you being serious?

    As a 12V salesman who’s been selling Boston for about 10 years, they were not a protected brand. There stuff was all over the Internet and when we spoke to Sanjay about it, he said that they were working on it and we would see some changes soon. That was over a year ago.

    This should be an example to other brands – protect your dealers, keep them happy, and you’ll avoid the extinction in the 12V realm.

  10. Smart move in a world of e commerce junk for the 12 volt industry.
    A industry now full of reps and distributors just focused on “how many is in a box and how much is the box”
    The consumers and grass roots has been long forgotten, sadly. Without grassroots, quality brands die off as the brick and mortars die off…. Unless the brand decides to join the e commerce trade or focus on mass distribution which is full of back end troubles.
    In today’s world, most brands enjoy a 3-4 year run of excitement then fade away….
    But even the big boys aren’t breaking even…. So I say a smart move!

  11. I don’t think any 12V Vet will forget their first pair of Boston’s or trying to compete with them down the street if you didn’t carry them at your store. Frank and Andy are legends in the Home and Car Biz as are their products like 975’s and C700’s. Then there is this guy named Len Tweten who helped both of them create a startup, Boston Acoustics.

  12. Sorry to hear about it. I think I still have a set of PRO6.2’s in my garage. Good luck to everyone there in mobile…hopefully the anticipated growth will allow everyone to shift within the company.

  13. Sad day. I was hired by Jeff Meyers in 1985 as the only dedicated 12 Volt employee of the company. Back then it was still owned by the founders Frank Reed and Andy Kostados. We had four products the C700, the 741, the 751 and the 704..When I left the company a few years later we had sixteen car audio products. It was an extremely cool company to work for back then..great people, great products and a great learning experience. Sorry to see them pull out of car but the 12 volt business has changed dramatically since the late 80’s. It’s a much crueler business now. It still has its moments but it long ago lost its innocence.I’m hoping D&M finds other cool uses for the brand.

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