McIntosh Group (formerly Fine Sounds Group) is an American holding company specializing in audio equipment and owns the brands McIntosh Laboratory, Sonus Faber, Fine Sounds Americas, Sumiko Phono Cartridges, Fine Sounds BeneLux, and Fine Sounds U.K. They also have a Sonus Faber partnership with Maserati and a McIntosh audio partnership with Jeep. [1]
The Fine Sounds Group project took shape in 2007, when the asset management company Quadrivio SGR – main shareholder of the group – acquired the brand Sonus Faber, an Italian company specializing in high-end loudspeakers. In 2009 Mauro Grange joined the group as CEO of Sonus Faber.
The "buy and build" strategy carried on by Quadrivio resulted in the acquisition of Audio Research in 2008, [2] Sumiko in 2010, [3] Wadia in 2011 [4] and McIntosh Laboratory in 2012, [5] which constitute the holdings of Fine Sounds Group. Through the acquisition of these brands, Fine Sounds Group became a relevant holding company in the sector of high-end audio, with €50 million sales in 2011. [6] The holding company took part in an official event as one unique family for the first time in 2013, with the participation in the Munich High End Show. [7]
On 9 May 2014 Mauro Grange and Charlie Randall, president of McIntosh Laboratory, Inc., announced their plans for a management buyout of Fine Sounds Group in partnership with LBO France and Yarpa, including a relocation of the Headquarters from Milan to New York. [8]
On 10 August 2016 Fine Sounds Group was officially renamed McIntosh Group. [9] Effective 31 December 2016, Mauro Grange stepped down as Co-CEO of McIntosh Group. Charlie Randall stepped-in as the CEO of McIntosh Group. [10] In July 2017 McIntosh Group appointed Jeff Poggi to co-Chief Executive Officer and Board member. [11]
In September 2020 Audio Research left the McIntosh Group when Audio Research was sold to its former North American Sales Manager, Trent Suggs.
In June of 2022, McIntosh group was acquired by Dallas based equity firm, Highlander Partners, as part of their investment portfolio. [12] On November 19, 2024, Highlander Partners announced the sale of McIntosh Group to Bose Corporation. [13] [14]
Bose Corporation is an American manufacturing company that predominantly sells audio equipment. The company was established by Amar Bose in 1964 and is based in Framingham, Massachusetts. It is best known for its home audio systems and speakers, noise-canceling headphones, professional audio products, and automobile sound systems. Bose has a reputation for being certainly protective of its patents, trademarks and brands. The majority owner of Bose Corporation is the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Non-voting shares were donated to MIT by founder Amar Bose and receive cash dividends. The company's annual report for the 2021 financial year stated that Bose Corporation's yearly sales were $3.2 billion, and the company employed about 7,000 people.
Marantz is a company that develops and sells high-end audio products. The company was founded in New York, but is now based in California.
PS Audio is an American company specializing in high-fidelity audio components equipment for audiophiles and the sound recording industry. It currently produces audio amplifiers, preamplifiers, power related products, digital-to-analog converters, streaming audio, music management software and cables.
McIntosh Laboratory is an American manufacturer of handcrafted high-end audio equipment headquartered in Binghamton, New York. It is a subsidiary of McIntosh Group, which was under the ownership umbrella of Highlander Partners, a Dallas-based private equity firm.. On November 19, 2024, Highlander Partners announced the sale of McIntosh Group to Bose Corporation.
Madrigal Audio Laboratories was founded in 1984 by Sanford Berlin, when he took over the Highend audio-company Mark Levinson. Further brands of Madrigal were Audioaccess, Proceed, Madrigal, Imaging. 1997 the subsidiary Revel Audio for high quality loudspeakers was founded.
Audio ResearchCorporation ("ARC") is one of the oldest manufacturers of high-end audio equipment still in operation. The company was known to be a pioneer at advancing state-of-the-art audio reproduction in the 1970s, and for re-introducing the vacuum tube as the primary active amplification device. With the help of reviews in audiophile publications such as Stereophile and The Absolute Sound, it solidified its position as a well-respected audio manufacturer. Many industry observers consider the founder, William Zane Johnson, as one of the true originators of the entire concept of high-end audio as it exists today. As audio critic Jonathan Valin put it: “Where would the high end be without William Zane Johnson. . . ?” and “As with so many of my generation, he and his creations are the high end to me – and always will be."
Meridian Audio is a consumer audio and home theatre equipment manufacturer based in the United Kingdom. Bob Stuart and Allen Boothroyd founded the company in 1977 under the name Boothroyd-Stuart. In 1985 the company released a CD player under the brand name, Meridian. The company also created the lossless compression format Meridian Lossless Packing in 1998 and the lossy Master Quality Authenticated (MQA) format in 2014.
Audio Advice, Inc. is a specialty consumer electronics retailer in the United States, specializing in home and portable audio, home theater, and smart home technology. Audio Advice operates as both a retailer and custom systems installer/integrator with branches in Raleigh, North Carolina and Charlotte, North Carolina.
Beats Electronics LLC is an American consumer audio products manufacturer headquartered in Culver City, California. The company was founded in 2006 by music producer Dr. Dre and record company executive Jimmy Iovine. Since 2014, it has been an Apple subsidiary.
PreSonus Audio Electronics, Inc. is an American manufacturer of professional audio equipment and software, used to create, record, mix, and master music and other audio. This includes their line of digital audio workstation (DAW) software, Studio One. In November 2021, it was announced that the company is to be acquired by Fender.
The McIntosh MC-2300 is a solid-state power amplifier which was built by the American high-end audio company McIntosh Laboratory between 1971 and 1980.
AudioQuest is a company that was founded in 1980 by William E. Low and provides audio/video cables, digital-to-analog converters, headphones, power-conditioning products, and various audio/video accessories. The company is based in Irvine, California, has offices in the Netherlands and distributes its products to approximately 65 countries throughout the world.
Master Quality Authenticated (MQA) is a proprietary system for delivering high-quality digital audio. The system includes audio signal processing, lossy audio compression and authentication. MQA requires licensing fees to use. The system was launched in 2014 by Meridian Audio, and is now owned by Lenbrook.
Manley Laboratories, Inc. is an American manufacturer of pro audio equipment, including microphones, signal processors, dynamic range processors, equalizers, converters, and specialized mastering products. Manley is located in Chino, California.
Fred Roy Cizek was an American inventor, hi-fi designer, and manufacturer.
Sonus faber is an Italian manufacturer of handcrafted speakers, headphones, and other high-end audio equipment based in Arcugnano, Veneto, Italy. The company was founded in 1983 by Franco Serblin. Sonus faber is one of several audio brands owned by McIntosh Group, which also owns McIntosh, Sumiko, and Fine Sounds.
Ribbon Communications Inc. is a public company that makes software, IP and optical networking solutions for service providers, enterprises and critical infrastructure sectors. The company was formed in 2017, following the merger of Genband and Sonus Networks and is headquartered in Plano, Texas.
World of McIntosh Experience Center occupied a five-story townhouse at 214 Lafayette Street in SoHo, Manhattan, from 2015-2021 in New York City. The 12,000 square foot townhome opened on October 13, 2015, on the site of a former power station. The CEO is Jeff Poggi and Charlie Randall. World of McIntosh is owned by McIntosh Group based in New York.