Friday, February 24, 2012 -- Way back when I worked at the Good Guys, Boston Acoustics was one of two "high-end" speaker lines we had in the car audio department. Thomas, the install manager at the time, had a pair of the Pro 6.2 separates in his front doors, and even to my then-untrained ear (as if it's really trained now), those speakers sounded awesome. As for me, the bucket I was driving at the time didn't deserve speakers that good.

Today Boston Acoustics released a statement saying that it was exiting car audio. I caught wind of this a couple of days ago with the rumor that reps were being quietly contacted with the news. The company plans to focus on its home audio products, though it will retain its OEM partnerships on the car side.

From the statement we can glean that this is a financial decision, since Boston—as with other companies—is beholden to a higher power, namely its stakeholders. Profitability is the watchword, and nowadays it can come from cutting as easily as increasing sales. It's just unfortunate that its principals don't see aftermarket car audio as a part of the company's profitability matrix.

There is still business here—good business—for our manufacturers and retailers. It's important that we keep this in perspective and understand that this is the decision of a company that is evaluating its own internal plans and goals, and not a pure reflection of our industry. Let's face it – we all know business isn't what it used to be, but there's still a lot we can do to make our business what it could be. Boston was part of my first taste of quality car audio, and I'm sorry to see the company go. But since then, I've had other great listening experiences, and I look forward to many more.

- Solomon