‘Just At the Inception’

Under New Management Structure, Nortek Brands Seen Keeping Their Identities

September 6, 2012 by Rebecca Day|Top News

INDIANAPOLIS -- Nortek’s move to bring its sprawling roster of custom install brands under a single management structure will promote a better sharing of technologies among them, executives at Nortek-affiliated SpeakerCraft said at the CEDIA Expo Wednesday.

Nortek began a strategic review of its business in late 2011 that resulted in the hiring of Sean Burke as president of the technology products group. Its various brands -- Elan, Gefen, Proficient, Niles, Panamax/Furman, SpeakerCraft, Sunfire and Xantech -- were combined into a central division. Though marketing, sales and administrative functions are now being combined, each brand will “retain its identity,” said Nortek executive Keith Marshall. Some product development will likely be shared, but plans haven’t been finalized, the company said. “We are just at the inception of doing this,” Marshall said.

Yet the barriers that separated the brands and, in some cases, had them competing against one another, are being dismantled, the company said. Nortek scrapped SpeakerCraft’s Nirv multiroom AV system earlier this year, shifting focus to Elan’s similar G home control network. “The sharing of technologies is definitely going to increase and it wasn’t that way before,” said Jeff Francisco, vice president of product development at SpeakerCraft. “Before it was at the discretion of the brand presidents.” Nortek appears to have won over some dealers, who said they initially feared chaos as new management took control.

Amid the reorganization, SpeakerCraft is readying the Synergi wireless multiroom audio system that’s expected to ship by early 2013. The system is built around a wireless transmitter that has four stereo analog and one optical PCM input to serve up to four sources and will send PCM lossless audio up to 90 feet via 2.4 GHz. There also will be a $430 wireless receiver with a Texas Instruments 35-watt amplifier with Bluetooth that will be packaged with a transmitter at $680. Other products include a $250 two-channel digital 40-watt amplifier and a Bluetooth-based wireless preamp/receiver. Up to eight wireless receivers can be operated per receiver.

SpeakerCraft’s Profile in-wall and in-ceiling speaker line, introduced in 2010, was updated with four new models, including the Profile AIM Cinema Five ($999), Three ($549) and One ($549) in-wall speakers, each featuring dual six-inch woofers. The line also includes the AIM MT Three ($599). SpeakerCraft also is launching sales of its new CS3 80-watt TV speaker through Best Buy’s Magnolia Home Theater departments, which have an exclusive on the product through Nov. 17, Francisco said. The company also remains a licensee of Atlantic Technology’s H-Pas bass configuration technology and remains “very much interested in it,” said Francisco, who hinted that products containing it might be demonstrated at CES in January. -- Mark Seavy

CEDIA Expo Notebook

Proficient introduced a Bluetooth TV sound system at a CEDIA Expo news conference Wednesday, joining Zvox and AudioXperts as suppliers of under-TV sound systems. MaxTV MT2 (shipping now) includes Bluetooth for streaming music from smartphones, computers and tablets, the company said. According to Nortek’s Marshall, Proficient has stayed out of the $279 soundbar business, which he said “killed the market” for $1,000-and up TV sound systems like the Yamaha Digital Sound Projector. At $599, MaxTV fits between the extremes of the market, he said. Marshall quoted Azione Unlimited president Richard Glikes as saying only 17 percent of dealers end up mounting a flat-panel TV to a wall for customers, which Marshall said creates a demand for performance audio alternatives to insufficient TV sound. Outfitted more like a low-end receiver than a standard soundbar, MaxTV packs four 20-watt amplifiers, two 2 ½-inch midrange drivers, two 5 ¼-inch subwoofers, a pair of soft-dome tweeters, bass and treble controls and a DSP chip for simulated surround, according to literature. Frequency range is said to be 35-20,000 Hz. The speaker sits under the TV base and includes an auxiliary input offering optical and coaxial jacks. In addition, Proficient showed new architectural and home theater speakers. Dennis Goettsch, director of product development, said Proficient was able to shave a third of the cost off its leader in-wall speaker by using ferrite magnets that “reduced costs dramatically” over neodymium magnets, which experienced significant price hikes over the past 18 months due to Chinese government restrictions on rare earth metals. Proficient’s IWS100 in-wall speaker “gained performance” with ferrite over neodymium, Goettsch said, while reducing dealer cost to $200 from $325 apiece and suggested retail to $500 from $750.

Sony’s 4K Bravia LCD TV, introduced last week at twin events in Berlin and New York (CED Aug 30 p1), will be priced at $25,000 in the U.S., Sony announced at a CEDIA Expo news conference late Wednesday. Booth attendants at Sony’s IFA stand said the company planned to price the set at 25,000 euros in most European markets. It will be available for preorder in the U.S. Thursday and arrive at “select” Sony stores and AV specialists nationwide in November, Sony said. The set also will be sold at Sony’s e-commerce store, the company said.