As far as I know the MKSoundsystems site is the new M&K. M&K was purchased by two European M&K distributors and the main person is Asger Bak, the "ab" in the contact email on the web site. The Los Angeles connection is/was Chris Minto and Chris Hagen of the original M&K staff. There is some doubt whether Hagen is part of the company but he apparently designed the new "M" series.

It is not clear where they are manufacturing their speakers, source of drivers, overall quaility or compatibility with original M&K products. The only new speakers I know about are the ones a Swedish guy just received (can be seen on AVS). The cabinets have a different finish and the drivers look like the old ones but there is no way to know how they perform. Eventually someone who owns old M&K product will purchase some of the new generation and be able to offer a comparison.

When M&K shut down the owner, Ken Kriesel, mostly blamed their failure on counterfeit product. Many folks believe their troubles were much deeper. I know dealers were dropping M&K 2 to 3 years before their closing because it took months and months to get product. Its tough to sell a speaker line when you can't deliver the speakers.

The photos on AVS do not show the back of the speakers nor do they show close-ups of the drivers. As you said, nothing will be really known until a former owner purchases and compares the new product to the old product.

I do agree with your final comments about the old M&K. Long before they closed down, I too knew dealers who weren't receiving products in a timely manner. It also seems that the person on AVS who bought the new speakers had a lengthy wait time as well. Maybe some things don't change...

I may be a big fan of the old M&K but I don't think I'm fanatical enough to consider them as the only speakers out there for me. Until this new site proves themselves as manufacturers of a quality product, I'm going to look at other speaker brands. And I still really don't like their approach to the website. It still screams "ripoff" to me.

Yeh, the web site is a little cheezy and I've grown accustomed to seeing lots of information from a manufacturer (e.g. response plots). None of that is on the M&K site and while I may not hear "ripoff" the voice in my head loudly says "Caution".

I too will look at other speakers if the need arises. For me the custom DIY market (Selah, Rythmik. etc) may allow me to indulge my woodworking and audio/HT hobbies at the same time.

I hope the new M&K has the right stuff to survive in a very competitive market for those folks that want to upgrade, add to a current system, or enjoy what current M&K owners experience.

I love M&K audio stuff. I am embarrassed when I heard that he is out of business. I hope they are only doing renovation and will again open.

There is a new M&K now, although I believe there are some differences from what was once being made and the ownership team is different.