Sonance announced today that they have entered into an agreement to acquire Minden, NV-based James Loudspeaker. This is the first major acquisition by Sonance since the purchase of Sound Advance in 2005, and is truly a marriage of two companies with a strong resonance in their approach to the custom integration industry.
Archives for 2019
MQA Reveals New Partners, Products & Music at 2019 CEDIA Expo
MQA, a leading provider of technology that helps deliver music that is authenticated to be master recording quality but with a small enough file structure that can be easily streamed or downloaded, announced today new partners, products and music in time for the 2019 CEDIA Expo show in Denver, CO next week. Visitors to their booth at CEDIA can expect to see the new products and audition the new music.
See more on MQA’s show plans…
[Read more…] about MQA Reveals New Partners, Products & Music at 2019 CEDIA ExpoCTA: Tariffs Mean Consumer Pain, Business Uncertainty
The Consumer Technology Association (CTA) is pulling no punches when it comes to the latest revised tariff schedule being implemented by the Trump administration. The recently revised tariff schedule, which started a new round of tariffs just days ago on September 1st, with a second round scheduled to hit on December 15th means pain and uncertainty moving forward according to the CTA.
See what the CTA had to say about tariffs…
[Read more…] about CTA: Tariffs Mean Consumer Pain, Business UncertaintyEXCLUSIVE: A Rare Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Sonance Rebranding Decision
Insiders & Participants Share Their Perspective
“You are WAY too excited about this news,” Jason Sloan, Sonance Chief Sales Officer joked when first telling me about their rebranding plans a few weeks ago. But I was excited – these plans put forth a major shift in the position of the Dana Innovations, Sonance, iPort, & Trufig brands. To Sloan and CEO Ari Supran, this was more of a refocus than a rebranding – a return to their largest and most beloved brand after a long and at times frustrating period of trying to establish another overarching entity.
But to me, it was much more than that.
The inside story on the Sonance rebranding…
[Read more…] about EXCLUSIVE: A Rare Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Sonance Rebranding DecisionEXCLUSIVE: Dana Innovations Launches Major Rebranding Effort; Sonance Reasserted
BREAKING NEWS
San Clemente, CA-based Dana Innovations announced today that it is launching a major rebranding effort, the results of which will better reflect their business initiatives, clarify the meaning and positioning of their various brands, and assert new brand “pillars” to better convey who they are and what they represent. It will also reassert the prominence of the Sonance brand.
The company will no longer be known as Dana Innovations thanks to a “back to the future” decision to elevate Sonance – the brand under which they were founded. Company management has granted Strata-gee exclusive access to this story, including to behind-the-scenes information revealing the depth and detail of the thinking, discussions, and even arguments of the last year and a half or so that were behind this major – and some would say somewhat risky – decision.
What the heck is Dana Innovations, er, Sonance doing?…
[Read more…] about EXCLUSIVE: Dana Innovations Launches Major Rebranding Effort; Sonance ReassertedAudioControl to Unveil the Most New Products Ever at 2019 CEDIA Expo
AudioControl said today they will introduce the greatest number of new products they have ever launched at a show at the upcoming 2019 CEDIA Expo taking place next month in Denver, CO. A specialty electronics supplier of high-performance residential, automotive, and commercial products, the company will show all-new home theater products, 70-volt amplifiers, and more.
See more on AudioControl’s new products at CEDIA Expo…
[Read more…] about AudioControl to Unveil the Most New Products Ever at 2019 CEDIA ExpoPS Audio Pulls Out of Local Retail – Now Direct Sales Only
PS Audio, a specialty manufacturer of affordable audiophilia, announced today that it is suspending sales of its products through local specialty retail stores and online retailers to focus on direct sales only. While the company has always sold products directly to end-users, it had a complementary channel of approximately 65 local specialty dealers, and a few online retailers supporting the brand as well.
See more on this decision by PS Audio…
[Read more…] about PS Audio Pulls Out of Local Retail – Now Direct Sales OnlyIs Bravas a Colleague or a Competitor? ‘That’s a Good Question’ Says One Buying Group Exec
Buying Group Executives Comment on New Unified Bravas Group
When Strata-gee broke the news last week on Bravas Group being sold to a private equity firm, a buzz erupted around the industry as different constituencies tried to digest the meaning of this development. While other groups of integrators have made similar efforts in the past, this type of roll-up has usually failed. If this attempt by Bravas works, just what would that mean for the CI industry in general. And is this an emerging competitor to buying groups?
I surveyed top buying group executives to get their take on just what this move by Bravas meant for the industry…and for them.
See how some buying group executives reacted to the Bravas news…
[Read more…] about Is Bravas a Colleague or a Competitor? ‘That’s a Good Question’ Says One Buying Group ExecStrata-gee Visits Crestron’s New ‘Factory of the Future’
This is Part 2 of Strata-gee’s series on my recent visit to Crestron. In some ways, as much fun as I had at their Research Center, I can almost say it was eclipsed (if only slightly) by a visit to, at that point, their yet-to-be-officially launched factory that was actually a couple of miles away from the main Crestron campus at a facility in the state of New York.
They call it their “Factory of the Future,” and after touring it…I can see why.
See Crestron’s brand new ‘factory of the future’…
[Read more…] about Strata-gee Visits Crestron’s New ‘Factory of the Future’Dirac Launches Live Bass Management at CEDIA Expo 2019
Dirac, a fast growing provider of room acoustics management software, announced today that it will launch Dirac Live Bass Management at next month’s CEDIA Expo 2019. Industry attendees at Expo can see the new system in Booth #3235 in the Colorado Convention Center.