Krell ownership & Dan D'Agostino
default -- Tue, 11/24/2009 - 06:22
Has Krell changed hands? And D'Agostino left the company? If so what does this mean for the future direction of Krell?
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krell has been sold to a private equity firm...dan still stays as the chief designer...but the future depends on the view of the private equity firm...if they want to maximize their return from the investment..they might move a lot of the production to china and it will be the kiss of death for krell imho
My sources say the new owners have forced D'Agostino out.
it must be very recent as only in may i had a chat with Dan in the munich hifi show
Has he been kicked out or left willingly? In either case this
smells poor corporate governance and bad publicity. I am not convinced they will
move production to china though. They need
to fill gaps in their product range and be smarter at positioning and overall
marketing matters. The evo line is already aging and it is tough selling $2500
amps and $100.000 ones with the same credibility in today’s market
I just visited the Krell site and all reference to Dan, including his photo, has been removed.
Even in the "History" section there is no mention of him which is beyond lame.
As mcduman states...very bad governance and lousy PR.
Could be time to sell my EVO rig.
I hate the whole Private Equity thing....nothing good ever comes from these deals.
I've known Dan for a while.....just as a customer...but he has always been available and ever so helpful.
One of the true gentlemen of HiFi. Very sad indeed.
i do not necessarily see the P/e firms as bad guys. Martin login or arc did not do particularly badly under their control. May be dan got a good price and made a timely exit from the ailing hi-end business.
As good as the evo line was, it had some positioning issues. As a fpb 700cx owner prepared to cough up another 20k, I could not find my next krell amp.
Dan D'Agostino was forced from the company by the partners (the partners know less than a toilet paper manufacturer about audio).
It shows you how clueless from a financial/business perspective this private equity firm is. When you buy a small niche high end brand which is inextricably linked to a personality (no matter what business), all the value in that brand resides in that person that is associated with that brand. By forcing Dan D'Agostino out, they just wiped out the value in their new holding. I am not a Krell fan nor have I ever owned the gear but from apurely business perspective they are clueless. What we all don't know about the transaction are the specifics: price and who they have in the wings (if anybody) to take over from Dan in terms of company direction and equipment design. I am not holding my breath though. My prediction is that Krell will be suffering market share losses to the competition with this turn of events. We shall see.
The financial condition of the company was perilous. The company was losing market share and was ill-positioned in a shrinking and more value conscious driven industry. A few new well priced well recieved new products will change things quickly. Dan's name, no matter how well respected, was doing nothing to keep the company alive.
very interesting read:
http://www.twice.com/article/391301-Krell_Founders_Sue_Equity_Fund_To_Re...
and look at the amount involved. 130k, or roughly the evo 1 & 2 set!!!!!
Updated link, the above one no longer works:
www.twice.com/article/438946-Krell_Founders_Sue_To_Make_Return.php?rssid=20328&q=krell
The new boys at Krell are none other then.... are you ready for this???
Crestron! They know a ton about automation but hi end audio is not one of their long suit's.
They are very well financed and could possibly get things going but obviously not with DDA.
I have known Dan and Rondi D'Agostino for many years; first, as a reviewer of Krell equipment as "Musician in Residence" at Stereophile Magazine. Later, as a customer and audio/video consultant who has directed many clients toward Krell products. Without Dan D'Agostino, Krell will fail. The new owners have no idea of what high end audio is all about. This is really sad, since the last Krell equipment I owned (2008 vintage Evo system) was the best built and most musically honest audio electronics I have ever heard. Dan and Rondi had a vision, and changed the entire landscape of high end audio for the better by designing and building equipment without any compromise. They will be missed.
I can't establish the Crestron tie-in to KP Capital management while searching the web. Please elaborate on the Crestron involvement in this. My interest lies in the fact I work for a high-end audio/video retailer that also sells Crestron control systems.
Agreed these private equity firms spell doom for any niche operation. They are only interested in the bottom-line and care only for the share holders.
They will chop and slash the company and sell to the highest bidder (The customer can go to hell as far as they are concerned)
I would unload any surplus equipment before long..
It looks like Dan has decided to take on his former firm with a new company;
http://www.dagostinoinc.com/