Anouncement

Steven Kephart · Oct 30, 2004

Dan made an announcement today, and I thought I would post it here:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

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From the Desk of Daniel C. Wiggins, CEO, Adire Audio

Over most of the last decade Adire Audio has built a reputation as an innovative, customer-focused company with a true passion to push the state of the art in loudspeaker and driver design. To this end we have built strong relationships with multiple partners, grown our engineering team and capabilities, and invented many exciting new technologies that push the entire market forward.

Adire Audio is entering a new phase of our growth. Our presence in the OEM marketplace as a leading design house and supplier/integrator is solid and growing. Our name brand is a recognized performance leader in the mobile electronics market. And we have become large players in the DIY home audio world.

To continue our growth, Adire Audio needed to expand our capabilities. The economic reality is that overseas production must be utilized to continue the ongoing push for higher performance at equal or lower prices. Where to locate overseas was the big question. China is an oft-mentioned destination for production, as most loudspeaker companies have factories located there. However, the current Chinese infrastructure does not provide a stable enough system for our needs. Rolling power blackouts, high prices of steel, petroleum, and power, and a rapidly escalating price of business are serious drawbacks to basing production in China.

Our search led us to South America; specifically, the country of Chile. Chile is a land with large metal reserves (iron, aluminum, and copper), a growing economy, fully democratic government, educated work force, and most importantly a stable infrastructure. To this end, I have co-founded a new company, Compania Acustica de Chile (The Acoustics Company of Chile, or CAC). While CAC is a new player in the loudspeaker world, the team we have assembled to run this factory has decades of acoustics, scientific and production experience. Based in a 3500 square meter building located outside Valparaiso, we have built out a full production plant with an annual production capacity of 1.5 million units.

On top of this, we have formed strong relationships with the top foundries, casters, and magnet suppliers in all of South America. We now have the ability to produce full custom drivers - down to custom tooled and cast baskets - at a fraction of the cost borne elsewhere. Custom production runs of drivers can start at a dozen drivers, and can run to our annual capacity.

But CAC is not a division of Adire Audio! CAC is a fully formed, licensed, and independent Chilean company. It is its own unique company, and is not owned by Adire Audio in any way, shape or form. It is true I am one of the owners of CAC, and that Adire Audio will provide engineering and representation services for CAC, but that is the extent of the formal relationship. We are partners together striving to grow the loudspeaker market.

CAC's stated mission is to offer world-leading value in raw driver production. CAC offers advanced engineering capability, quick turns, the ability to economically do runs as small as 12 drivers, and extreme levels of quality. Focusing on 8" and larger drivers, CAC combines the low cost of overseas sourcing, American engineering quality, state of the art technologies, and complete customization in small volumes that is sought by so many in the high end of the audio market.

Related to this, Adire Audio will soon release a greatly expanded range of woofers. Our 2005 line offering will initially grow by 500%, with many more drivers to come. But more exciting is that the partnership we have with CAC will allow us to design and source extremely small runs of custom drivers. For smaller manufacturers looking to use custom drivers, the partnership of Adire Audio and CAC will allow for development and production of these smaller runs. No longer will purchases of under 50 drivers relegate you to a choice of stock products; now you have the same power in terms of customization and fit for your application that was once reserved only to large manufacturers.

CAC will also allow large manufacturers a choice. The growing issues with the Chinese production market, along with the ever-increasing cost of doing business in China is a constant worry for those with a large economic source in that market. Operating in Chile, the large manufacturer loses many sources of worries: Chile is a democracy with a popularly elected President, a free floating monetary system, a very strong and stable infrastructure, and as it is located in South America, easy access via freight, air. Even the time zones are typically within 1-3 hours difference (depending upon Daylight Savings Time) with Central US time. No more phone calls at midnight. And due to the Free Trade Agreement of the Americas, importation from Chile is duty free.

Overall, this expansion will strengthen both companies. Adire Audio will continue to expand and grow, and will have another reliable source of products for the hobbyist and small manufacturer alike. CAC is poised to make significant inroads into the loudspeaker industry. And together Adire Audio and CAC will be a resource for manufacturers small and large who wish to offer the highest performance woofers at competitive pricing.

Dan Wiggins
CEO
Adire Audio
Click to expand...

Steven Kephart
Adire Audio

objext · Oct 30, 2004

Kephart...I knew that name sounded familiar, and it just dawned on me

I sorta knew a Megan Kephart in high school...she was kinda hot...

Ok, carry on

Steven Kephart · Oct 30, 2004

Originally posted by objext@Oct 30 2004, 05:33 AM
Kephart...I knew that name sounded familiar, and it just dawned on me

I sorta knew a Megan Kephart in high school...she was kinda hot...

Ok, carry on

[post=22810]Quoted post[/post]
Click to expand...

Dude, that was me before the "change".

Do you think she's still single? (enter George Lucas in Love moment) :unsure:

Steven Kephart
Adire Audio

The_Ancient · Oct 30, 2004

does that mean my dream of a Desjti Free Adire will be coming true??????

one can only hope

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