Kurzweil still around?

stonepiano

stonepiano

Member
I called GC yesterday to ask if they had an ME-1 I could try and the salesperson told me they were out of business!

I wasn't sure if I believed him (their stuff is still for sale all over the net) but I couldn't find much in the way of recent news for the keys company.

I really liked the idea behind the ME-1 piece but I realize it's getting old now (5 yrs or so) and wondered if something newer has come out from them.

what's the deal?
 
Kurzweils parent company went belly-up several months ago. I believe Kurzweil has been in search of new investors, before being forced into insolvency (Which I haven't heard has actually happened yet). Sucks right?!?!? Remember Waldorf??? :eek:
 
Kurzweil is not a dead company. I work in a music store and we sell all their stuff, we even received an order last week.

KURZWEIL IS STILL IN BUSINESS.

End
 
tenkas said:
Kurzweil is not a dead company. I work in a music store and we sell all their stuff, we even received an order last week.

KURZWEIL IS STILL IN BUSINESS.

End
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That's what I needed to hear!

Now, what's the price on a ME-1?! ;)
 
Kurzweil is still alive and kicking. Guitar Center and Sam Ash have been trying to spread that rumour for years now because Kurzweil pulled out and decided not to sell through them because of their shitty way of doing business. So I guess they're kinda sour about it.

Screw them.

So Yeah, Kurzweil is alive and it was at NAMM.
 
Atterion said:
Kurzweils parent company went belly-up several months ago. I believe Kurzweil has been in search of new investors, before being forced into insolvency (Which I haven't heard has actually happened yet). Sucks right?!?!? Remember Waldorf??? :eek:
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Wrong, wrong, wrong. Really man, before spreading such rumours at least do some research. No one went belly-up, and even if Kurzweil is in search of new investors (wishful thinking on my part) nobody is talking about such things and they're still very much a part of Young Chang.

The scoop is Samik bought out Young Chang sometime ago, but apparently they were breaking some Korean antitrust law as by doing so they were becoming the only piano manufacturer in the country thus creating a monopoly. So the deal got cancelled. Young Chang is still around, and so is Kurzweil.

For those that want to learn more I'd suggest you head on over to www.sonikmatter.com. There is a strong Kurzweil community there and some of the Kurzweil reps also post there, so you can get info (as much as they'll give) straight from the people that actually work there, rather than the tabloids.
 
noisewreck said:
Wrong, wrong, wrong. Really man, before spreading such rumours at least do some research. No one went belly-up, and even if Kurzweil is in search of new investors (wishful thinking on my part) nobody is talking about such things and they're still very much a part of Young Chang.

The scoop is Samik bought out Young Chang sometime ago, but apparently they were breaking some Korean antitrust law as by doing so they were becoming the only piano manufacturer in the country thus creating a monopoly. So the deal got cancelled. Young Chang is still around, and so is Kurzweil.
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OK I got my info from Futuremusic. And they report that Young Chang Piano Co. did file for bankruptcy, after the Korean Exchange Bank froze both their's and Kurzweil's assetts, after defaulting on 460 million won. And blah, blah, blah...read the article http://www.futuremusic.com/news/october2004/kurzweil.html I was just trying to relay the info I had found. Just trying to be helpful. No need to get bitchy people. I could care less personally if Kurzweil lives or dies. Noisewreck thanx for the link I will check it out.
 
I love my ME1 Tone Generator. I payed about 500. for it a couple of years ago. I think sweetwater has them cheaper now. I just looked. They're 399.
 
Atterion said:
No need to get bitchy people. I could care less personally if Kurzweil lives or dies.
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Well, I just get sick and tired of constantly hearing that Kurzweil is going down, and unlike you I DO care and want to see them around for a long while, not only because I own a K2600 but also because they're one of the very few truly forward looking synth making companies around. Spreading rumours that Kurzweil is dead really doesn't help anyone. I just wish they were part of a company that truly appreciated Kurzweil as Young Chang only cares about pianos so their marketing of Kurzweil gear sucks ass.
 
noisewreck said:
I just wish they were part of a company that truly appreciated Kurzweil as Young Chang only cares about pianos so their marketing of Kurzweil gear sucks ass.
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This is true, there marketing sucks (although I remember a time when, you couldn't pick up a copy of say "keyboard" or "Electronic Musician", without seeing the latest greatest K gracing the back page (I loved the one with the surgeons all standing around one like they were surgically installing the KB3 option, and the K2500 was shooting rays of light from within...Very Cool)).

As far as spreading rumors goes, again, I thought I was forwarding reputable information. If the article I read was faulty, I apologize. I personally never heard rumors of Kurzweil going under, until this thread started, but again I'm not a Kurzweil fan.
 
No, Kurzweil is not still around, they're dead in the water, going under.

Now that we have that established, you can donate all of your Kurzweil gear to me.... I'll take it off your hands.

:D
 
Atterion said:
As far as spreading rumors goes, again, I thought I was forwarding reputable information.
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I read that ;) That article is also 2 years old ;) And I gave the scoop with the Samick deal.

Sorry I came on strong... but it feels like Apple's ordeal during Gil Amelio's time ;) Remember how everyone was saying Apple is going down, Apple is dead and everyone was wrong?

Kurzweil had a very strong presense at this years NAMM.
 
noisewreck said:
I read that ;) That article is also 2 years old ;) And I gave the scoop with the Samick deal.

Sorry I came on strong... but it feels like Apple's ordeal during Gil Amelio's time ;) Remember how everyone was saying Apple is going down, Apple is dead and everyone was wrong?

Kurzweil had a very strong presense at this years NAMM.
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Oh yeah. Your're right. I could have sworn that said 2005. My Bad. Who knows, maybe I'll buy a Kurzweil someday. I mean, I bash on the Kurzweils around here, but I really do like their sound, but they are still over-priced. :D
 
Glad we could all get that off our chests.

I actually saw that futuremusic post, which fueled my speculation but I didn't mention it because it was so old.

In any event, what are they doing nowadays? Their website, if it is still www.kurzweilmusicsystems.com, doesn't offer much in the way of recent info besides the "introduction" of their new PC161 (which came out last year). Hell, the latest press release is over three years old!

I guess it just seems odd.
 
stonepiano said:
Glad we could all get that off our chests.

I actually saw that futuremusic post, which fueled my speculation but I didn't mention it because it was so old.

In any event, what are they doing nowadays? Their website, if it is still www.kurzweilmusicsystems.com, doesn't offer much in the way of recent info besides the "introduction" of their new PC161 (which came out last year). Hell, the latest press release is over three years old!

I guess it just seems odd.
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Check out the Kurzlist, via sonikmatter.com. They're quite active there.
 
stonepiano said:
In any event, what are they doing nowadays? Their website, if it is still www.kurzweilmusicsystems.com, doesn't offer much in the way of recent info besides the "introduction" of their new PC161 (which came out last year).
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There is also the ADAT I/O option that was introduced recently.

They are also hiring and Embedded application developer. Not too long ago they were hiring ASIC designers.

Things are slow on the product development front because of the whole Samick/Young Chang ordeal. Things are settling now, so hopefully we'll hear some news soon.
 
Atterion said:
OK I got my info from Futuremusic. And they report that Young Chang Piano Co. did file for bankruptcy, after the Korean Exchange Bank froze both their's and Kurzweil's assetts, after defaulting on 460 million won. And blah, blah, blah...read the article.
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Yes, they did go bankrupt and are working their way out of it -- they are past the insolvency stage of bankruptcy (i.e., they have no forseeable way of paying off their debt so their assets are going to be auctioned to the highest bidder to make some retribution) and luckily they were able to get to the point where they could pay their bills and start paying back older debt.

But this was almost ENTIRELY due to Samick's interference with Kurzweil / Young Chang.

Its largely rumored (and I must note RUMORED as I'm not going to actually state this is the truth) that Samick bought up Young Chang solely to dig a big hole for them and bury them under it. They have been convicted of abusing a monopoly (and that is fact) and its said that this was just another one of those types of activities. They don't care who they hurt so long as they ended up as the #1 seller of pianos in SE Asia with no real competition.

After Samick cut them loose (after being mandated by the gov't) they calculated what some have called a bogus list of internal charges and decided to stick them with the bill -- saving Samick money that they would have had to spend anyways -- and sticking Samick's own creditors trying to collect on a bill from a company they had stripped to the bones.

But Kurzweil has a new owner these days...its not the most ideal situation, but things are getting worked out and there are new products under discussion. Nothing really tangible at this point except a few accessories -- but its getting better. They aren't dead and won't be dieing for a while.

Personally, I think the company has a long way to go to get back to the days of putting out something revolutionary like the K2000 again -- but that doesn't mean they won't put out some really cool stuff in the near future that while isn't revolutionary, is solid and sounds good. And honestly, I think Kurzweil would do better as a R&D backend for Korg or Yamaha designing high end gear that ends up working its way down to the consumer level stuff (i.e., I think that a *KURZWEIL* ME-1 sucks, but if it were a Korg ME-1 it would be alright -- Kurzweil wasn't designed to make cheap plastic boxes that are sold cheaply -- pull the damn name off and put someone elses consumer oriented name on it :)).

clif
sonikmatter
 
Sorry about the late reply -- I travel a lot, and I'm about the only one from K who consistently posts on the forums -- I probably don't even know about most of them :rolleyes:

Anyway, as has been explained here -- Kurzweil is not dead. Our parent company, Young Chang is in fact in a search for new investors, a search which should complete very, very soon.

The future could still yield some very cool stuff from the 'Once and Future King'.
 
Is the VA-1 ever going to come out? That thing seemed like it would be awesome with the feature where it morphs smoothly from one waveshape to another!
 
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