Madrigal To Elevate Proceed Product Line To Mark Levinson, Phase Out Brand Name

The following is the press release, issued by Madrigal:

4-Apr-03

The Evolution Of The Mark LevinsonÆ BrandMark Levinson represents the pursuit of excellence by a dedicated group of people and their aspirations to be the best -- expressed in the form of high-performance, luxury home entertainment electronics. This ideal has been embraced for more than thirty years by the people who design and build Mark Levinson electronics, and by our global network of specialist dealers and distributors. Everyone at Madrigal clearly understands the unique value of Mark Levinson, and we are committed to continuing the tradition of excellence that has made our premier marquee an internationally recognized brand.A Special RelationshipConceived in 1989, ProceedÆ was introduced as an innovative, forward-looking companion brand to Mark Levinson. Products based on new technologies were first developed and produced under the Proceed name. The first Madrigal digital products and surround processor/preamp are examples. Proceed products were also initially less expensive than Mark Levinson products. Today however, the lines between Proceed and Mark Levinson have become blurred. Digital and multichannel products have become mainstays of the Mark Levinson range. Proceed products have become increasingly more sophisticated and higher performance and many now occupy a price and performance level that is typically the territory of Mark Levinson products. Proceed and Mark Levinson now share more than ever.From the very beginning, Proceed has been designed, engineered, and built by the same dedicated people who also produce Mark Levinson. This fact is well-known by our customers who accurately describe Proceed as ""more affordable Mark Levinson gear"" or ""the (more affordable) Mark Levinson home theatre electronics."" Many owners of our products combine Mark Levinson and Proceed electronics in a single system. Over the years many Mark Levinson customers have expressed to us their wish that Proceed products more closely resembled the appearance of Mark Levinson products. Or, that they wished Proceed products be part of the Mark Levinson brand. In acknowledgment of these facts, we at Madrigal have set a course to evolve Proceed and Mark Levinson into a single, wide-ranging brand. That brand is Mark Levinson.Our Plan For ConvergenceOur first step in the convergence of Mark Levinson and Proceed recognizes what many of you have told us: that the best Proceed products demonstrably outperform their competition and are of ""Mark Levinson quality."" We couldn't agree more, and with this fact in mind we are preparing to reintroduce the best models of the current Proceed range by elevating them to the Mark Levinson line. They will look and feel like true Mark Levinson products. There will be no effort to hide the fact that the new models wore the Proceed badge in their previous lives. They have always been Mark Levinson at heart and their internal construction quality, performance, and capabilities confirm their heritage.The new Mark Levinson series will be based on the best, most successful Proceed models: AVP2+6, CVP2, HPA2, and HPA3. We are targeting our launch of the series by winter of this year. Our objective is to continue to make available all of the current Proceed models until the launch of the new Mark Levinson series.Finally, we would like to mention our sincere thanks to the many thousands of our customers who have invested in Proceed electronics over the years. Although the Proceed brand will eventually be retired, rest assured that our commitment to supporting our products and to supporting our customers most definitely will not.SummaryTechnology evolves, as do the needs of our customers, and over the next several years we intend to advance the Mark Levinson product range to address the needs of the changing worldwide market. We will continue to embrace new technologies and incorporate them into our new designs in a manner that is consistent with the Mark Levinson heritage. We at Madrigal are determined that Mark Levinson will remain a contemporary, relevant, and desirable choice for the world's most discriminating audio and video enthusiasts.For more information about Madrigal, visit www.madrigal.com.

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