Strategy in TECH...
On Wednesday, the Custom Electronic Design & Installation Association (CEDIA) announced the roster of new members joining the Global Board of Directors after a “slate” vote by members recently. The trade association also announced a historic first – for the first time in its history, a woman has been selected as Chairperson of the organization.
Marantz, part of Sound United, which itself is now part of Harman International Industries, which itself is part of Samsung, announced two new models in what it calls its “reference quality” home theater component series. The all-new AV 30 and AMP 30 are serious, pro-grade audio components that elegantly blend dramatic industrial design with flexible feature sets – with a high-performance-first product design philosophy.
Products like these really warm the heart of this old audio guy!
Big news this morning out of Sioux Falls, South Dakota as AVPro Global Holdings, LLC, one of the fastest growing companies in the custom integration industry, announces it has named current Chief Technology Officer (CTO) Matt Murray as its new Chief Executive Officer (CEO). Company founder and current CEO Jeff Murray will become the Chairman of the Board in a move that the company says was a long-planned generational leadership transition.
What happens when a team of engineers with Authentic Insights (AI) craft a powerful artificial intelligence (AI)-based system to benefit integrators with a new, heretofore nonexistent but incredibly impactful tool? Tech Sage is what happens. Tech Sage, a new, powerful support solution for integrators, has been launched by AVPro Global, and this is one of the best uses for AI I’ve seen so far.
London-based audio company Cambridge Audio announced this week that it has selected Fidelity Imports as its exclusive distribution partner for the United States territory. This is a move that Cambridge says marks a “strategic milestone” and suggests will serve to scale up its operations here in the States.
I have to say that the team at Premium Audio Company (PAC), part of the VOXX division of Gentex Corp., does a nice job of paying homage to the long, 80-year history of technical innovation and market success of its Onkyo brand, while at the same time, launching innovative new models to propel the brand into a space-age future. While conventional wisdom might suggest otherwise, you could say that they prove that they can walk and chew gum at the same time.
Happy New Year from Strata-gee.com. Thanks to you, we had another great year! Big things happened in 2025, some challenging, some rewarding. But all is well that ends well, and while 2025 was a little dicey early on, it appears to be ending pretty well for most of us.
As 2025 comes to a close, it’s interesting to look back on the Top 10 stories on Strata-gee in the year past. By top stories, I’m talking about those posts that drew the largest readership, as measured by pageviews. Clearly, you can discern some of the 2025 “mega-trends” from this list.
It’s the most wonderful time of the year, or so goes a popular Christmas song…a sentiment with which I tend to agree. It’s a season – in ambition, anyway – of peace on earth and goodwill toward all. After a long, hard year, it’s good to take time away from the hustle and bustle of work and relax and refocus on valued friends and precious family.
Howard’s Appliances, Inc. has filed for bankruptcy, and we now know the path the company’s directors have chosen to take in this transition for the company. In addition to filing a comprehensive Voluntary Petition for Non-Individuals Filing for Bankruptcy, along with a series of attachments containing, among other things, huge inventory lists, the Howard’s team also added a series of Motions requesting the court grant immediate “Hearings on Emergency Basis.”
What was I able to glean from literally hundreds of pages of document filings? Read on…
