Mahwah,
N.J. –
closed out its fiscal year ending March reporting that it will
close its Snell Acoustics operation and discontinue the Escient brand to focus
on its four core brands.
The core brands
are Denon, Marantz, McIntosh and Boston Acoustics.
D&M announced
the decision in a statement that also reported that the fiscal year that ended
March 31 had “a significant improvement in profitability,” but not financial
numbers were reported.
“The changing
landscape of the speaker industry has made it extremely difficult for Snell to
remain a viable business,” D&M said in the statement. “The advanced
loudspeaker technologies developed at Snell, however, will be leveraged by
other D&M brands.”
As for Escient,
D&M will “utilize all of the company’s expertise toward incorporating its
innovative technologies into our core D&M brands.” Meantime, Escient will
provide “necessary software upgrades for its existing products and will
continue to support its dealers and customers by honoring warranty repairs and
maintaining customer service,” the company added.
Escient marketed
CD/DVD-management systems and networked
hard-drive music servers. Snell offers high-end in-room and custom-installed
speakers, complementing the more moderately priced Boston Acoustics lineup.
