History
SpeakerCraft was founded in 1976 by Edward Haase, Ken Humphreys and Eugene Humphreys. Beginning as a retail stereo store and original equipment manufacturer of loudspeakers for companies such as Sonance, Niles Audio, Bang and Olufsen, JBL, Polk Audio, and many others, the company evolved into a designer and installer of custom audio systems. In 1988 Humphreys sold his interest to Jeff King, Sr. Jeff remained with the company until it ultimately sold in 2000 to Burkhardt, Management and Kinsman Capital. Jeff was a major force in both operations and development as well as defining the companies position for future growth. He was the primary decision maker that included hiring Jeremy Burkhardt in 1991 in the companies 16th year of business. Jeff Francisco managed the custom installation business and retail store where he studied product development and developed custom systems for the company. In 1994, Ed Haase, Jeff King and Jeremy Burkhardt founded The SpeakerCraft Brand of architectural loudspeakers as a line of high-end custom speakers; they were set on making a new brand for the CEDIA marketplace. In 1999 Haase and King offered Burkhardt a partnership. From 1994 to 2000 this team invented and patented products, grew the brand and took market share. As mentioned Burkhardt, Management and Kinsman Capital bought out Haase and King, with the two exiting the company in 2000. Burkhardt remained with the company, serving as Vice President of Sale and Marketing Along with Jim Munn the companies CEO and Bob Cavasos the companies CFO. This team-up led to the fastest growth in company history, Kinsman's access to capital vaulted SpeakerCraft to the number one position in the industry. Management and Kinsman sold SpeakerCraft again in 2004 to Nortek,Inc, for 58 million dollars, and Burkhardt, like all minority shareholders benefited proportionately from this sale. Munn and Cavasos stepped out and Burkhardt remained as a 32-year-old CEO with a vision for growth, seeing the iPod as forever the defining grounds for SpeakerCraft's future in distributing audio through the home. Selected by CE PRO magazine as a top ten industry leader, Burkhardt again leveraged his ownership and became an owner in Nortek, Inc and was promoted to company CEO. Since 1994 SpeakerCraft has reinvented itself based on a common vision of innovation, best of class products, business training and close partnerships with their retailers. The company currently produces more than 1000 products, which include loudspeakers, amplifiers, iPod multi-room music distribution systems, and accessories that allow for various system configurations and sizes. SpeakerCraft's patented AIM series of speakers is available in ceiling and wall versions; these were patented by Haase, Francisco and Burkhardt are the largest advancements in architectural speakers. In 2007 Haase returned to SpeakerCraft as Chief technical Officer. Developing some of the finest SpeakerCraft inventions, Haase is known as the man that invented the in-wall speaker.
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