What's New
HARMAN Continues its Historic Run at CEDIA Expo
By Dave Tovissi
Vice President and General Manager
HARMAN Luxury Audio
Next week many of us will once again converge in Denver to participate in CEDIA EXPO. This will be my 30th year of attending CEDIA. I still remember the first time I was introduced to CEDIA back in 1989 when I was working for Sound Advice in south Florida. Our Audio Buyer and Custom Install leader at the time was industry veteran Eric Bodley. Eric told me that he and a couple of the salespeople and installers were going up to Amelia Island to attend a trade show. Historical records state that there were about 500 people in attendance and over half of them were installers.
Eric was so excited about what he heard and saw in Amelia Island that he resigned his position as Audio Buyer to focus all his energy on building our custom installation business. Eric later became the president of CEDIA and is now a CEDIA Fellow and Board Member.
The first Expo had about 30 manufacturers including JBL, Harman Kardon and Audio Access. There were only 24 educational courses offered at CEDIA and several of them were conducted by HARMAN personnel. In contrast, this year CEDIA has over 300 manufacturers exhibiting, more than 100 educational courses on offer, and anticipated attendance of nearly 20,000. Quite a dramatic change from that first show at Amelia Island!
As was the case at the very first EXPO, HARMAN will be providing training to attendees. Dr. Sean Olive will be conducting a session on how HARMAN’s decades of research and testing has led to a scientific approach to creating great sound. Dr. Olive will explain how the HARMAN Target Curve was developed and how we use it when developing our products.
This year’s booth will be filled with new products and exciting demonstrations. Making their debut is our new line of Revel PerformaBe In-Wall and In-Ceiling loudspeakers. These products were the brainchild of Mark Glazer, our Senior Principal Acoustical Engineer. They feature the same drivers used in our award-winning PerformaBe bookshelf and floorstanding loudspeakers bringing signature Revel sound to the premium custom installation market.
We will be previewing our forthcoming JBL distributed audio amplifiers which are designed to complement our expanded portfolio of JBL architectural and indoor/outdoor loudspeakers. Together, these amplifiers and loudspeakers provide a single brand custom installation solution from one of the most powerful names in audio.
Our recently announced JBL L42ms music system will be on demonstration as part of our Wi-Fi-enabled active loudspeakers including the larger L75ms and the 4305P and 4329P Studio Monitor powered loudspeaker systems. In addition to the L42ms and L75ms, we’ll be showcasing the full line of JBL Classic electronics and loudspeakers including the new SA550 integrated amplifier and MP350 streaming music player.
HARMAN has had several products enshrined into the Hall of Fame including the very first JBL Synthesis One System. We’ve submitted a few more of our best-selling products for the CEDIA Hall of Fame honors this year.
This year’s CEDIA EXPO will feature industry experts coming together to showcase not only their latest products but also coming together to play some music for the attendees. A little bit of CEDIA trivia, the very first CEDIA JAM SESSION was held at the Dallas Expo in 1996. HARMAN employees have been playing at CEDIA for many years. Jim Garrett will once again be behind the drum set representing HARMAN Luxury Audio. As you know, Jim is not only comfortable behind the drums but also behind the microphone as well. His week is already filling up with press interviews to discuss our latest products.
We look forward to showcasing our products in Denver and having time to speak with you about your business. Please reach out to your regional sales managers to schedule your booth walk through and learn more about our exciting new products.
To our readers, this newsletter was created for you. Please let us know how we can continue to improve our content by sending your suggestions to me at david.tovissi@harman.com