16 minute read
ESSENTIAL NEWS
AWE TO SUPPLY BASE PERFORMANCE SIMULATORS (BPS)
Base Performance Simulators (BPS) is one of the UK’s leading race simulation companies, led by three-time Le Mans winning, Aston Martin factory driver, Darren Turner.
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Darren Turner, explains, “BPS use their extensive knowledge and experience of professional simulation and real-world racing to create bespoke simulators for racing teams, professional drivers and now for amateur enthusiasts via integrators, exclusively via AWE. All hardware and software, installation and commissioning is provided, backed by an extendable 12-month BPS warranty and telephone support.
“These are fully bespoke simulators, which are purpose-built into a dedicated room, featuring a giant wraparound projection screen and edge-blended projection. There is also a custom-built standalone simulator for those wanting a more independent solution.”
The company’s products include The GT – Bespoke Race Simulator, a highly authentic and immersive GT race simulator experience, featuring a giant wraparound screen manufactured from a genuine racing chassis, (such as an Aston Martin Vantage) and fitted with BPS developed hardware. The company also offers The Single Seater – Bespoke Race Simulator which provides an immersive environment for driver development, also featuring a giant wraparound screen. The choice of many drivers from F4 to F2, the BPS sim has been a key factor in many championship victories around the world. BLADE is a custom designed and built race simulator for the home user who requires the benefits of a professional grade simulator, but not the cost or space requirements demanded by a bespoke sim.
Darren continues, “We’ve worked with AWE for over a decade now and they have always provided us with great technical support and knowledge. We are very proud to be partnering with them on this initiative to get our products into the homes of AWE customers.”
Stuart Tickle, Managing Director of AWE, adds, “The wealthy clients that many of our integrator customers serve demand the absolute best and Base Performance Simulators are just that. It is a privilege for us to work with Darren and the team at BPS to bring these unique solutions to integrators.”
With a custom-built Blade Simulator starting at £22,750 SRP inc. VAT, and bespoke sims from £96,800 to over £500,000, AWE says these are the real deal offering an unparalleled professional simulator experience for the home.
AWE awe-europe.com
A new opportunity to sell simulators in the UK
Fortissimo Capital Fund has acquired a stake in Kramer Electronics. Michael and Ben-Zion Hochstein, (two of the company’s founders) retain their interests in the company, while Dr. Joseph Kramer, the founder of Kramer Electronics is retiring from the company.
Fortissimo Capital Fund is a private equity fund based in Israel - with proven capabilities to facilitate the growth of technology companies. Fortissimo manages $1.6 billion in capital and has to date invested in approximately 50 companies in Israel and abroad.
Itzhak Bambagi, Chief Executive Officer of Kramer comments, “I would like to thank Dr Kramer for the many years he has dedicated to the success of our company. Dr. Kramer was one of the founding fathers of the AV industry and contributed greatly to the company’s position as a world leader in its field.
“Fortissimo’s investment in a stake of our company is a major milestone and I am confident that under their guidance we can grow and become an even more significant player in the market.
“This year, we are celebrating 40 years since the founding of Kramer Electronics. The initial pillars upon which the company was built, with a focus on constant innovation, the pursuit of excellence and team spirit remain the driving force of our business today. These values and our strategic direction will continue to drive the company’s future success.”
Yuval Cohen, Managing Partner of Fortissimo Capital and Chairman of the Board of Kramer adds, “Kramer’s continued innovation and innovative solutions including cutting-edge cloud technologies, pioneering methods of delivering AV over IP and wireless presentation and collaboration advances have solidified its position as a leader in the industry. Digital multimedia and AV technologies are thriving, and we see Kramer Electronics as a great global platform with over 25 offices worldwide to further grow and enhance its operations. We are thrilled to participate in the next phase of Kramer’s journey!”
Fortissimo Capital Fund ffcapital.com Kramer Electronics kramerav.com
Fresh investment for Kramer Electronics
NEXT LEVEL ENTERTAINMENT
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ESSENTIAL PEOPLE
Sonance has announced the appointment of Goran Antonijevic to Marine Sales Director for Sonance and James Loudspeaker, based in Amsterdam. Goran joins the company with a wealth of experience in the Superyacht market, having worked for one of the industries leading integrators for the last seven years. He has an Acoustic Engineering degree, leveraging that expertise in delivering AV/IT systems in the Superyacht channel. Goran also speaks an impressive four languages! Goran will be working in conjunction with Sonance & James Loudspeaker distributors and dealer network to help generate newbuild and refurbishment sales and will also be liaising with the engineering team at James Loudspeaker, in Minden Nevada, on marine and custom product application requirements for yachts.
EMEA Sales Director Adrian Ickeringill, with whom Goran will report to stated, “The marine market is a key area of importance for both Sonance and James. This role requires experience and an understanding of the Marine market, regarding interaction with key stakeholders to ensure successful project deployments. Goran has extensive knowledge, and experience that will help to support our customers to further develop and successfully deliver key marine projects. We are extremely excited to have Goran join our team and to provide this new level of support to our partners in this channel.”
Goran added, “I believe that Sonance has a great vision for the marine market. This becomes even more vivid after joining forces with James Loudspeaker. With an excellent product range, engineering approach, and customer focus, Sonance has the winning recipe to become a true market leader in this sector. I am absolutely delighted to be joining the Sonance team and to be given this fantastic opportunity. After many years working in the AV and superyacht industries, I feel this is going to be victorious synergy.” Goran can be contacted at gorana@sonance.com.
CEDIA, the global industry association for residential technology, has named Melissa Geitgey, APR (GETT-CHEE) vice president of marketing, communication and research. In her role, Melissa provides marketing communications thought leadership, ethical counsel and synthesises multiple business strategies to elevate the CEDIA brand and achieve business outcomes. She oversees the organisation’s global marketing, public relations, research and industry relations.
“Melissa brings to CEDIA, our members and the industry a passion for creative strategic marketing communications that have measurable impact,” said CEDIA Interim Co-Chief Executive Officer, Giles Sutton. “We look forward to leveraging her talents to enhance the experiences industry integrators, manufacturers, and distributors have with our brand.”
Melissa brings nearly 20 years of experience to CEDIA; including managing talent and resources for higher education, sports, professional services, and non-profit organisations. She most recently was the marketing portfolio lead, Employee Benefits, for OneAmerica Enterprise Marketing and Communications. In that role, she advised senior Employee Benefits business leaders about the toplevel marketing communications strategy required to position the brand as a trusted insurance product wholesaler and industry thought leader.
“I’m excited to join a team of talented people and collaborate with them to communicate CEDIA’s value to a global audience,” said Melissa. “I look forward to building mutually beneficial relationships with our industry partners.”
Swedish sound pioneer Dirac has announced the appointment of Wade Giles as Vice President, Americas, overseeing all sales and business development efforts in North America. The announcement follows an executive team realignment that appointed a new CEO and Chief Product Officer and comes on the heels of a successful 2020 that realised significant sales growth through a range of new partnerships and customer acquisitions.
Wade brings more than 25 years of semiconductor industry experience to his new role, which includes the further expansion of Dirac software into chipsets and consumer devices. His extensive track record and sterling reputation among semiconductor companies position Wade perfectly to drive sales in the United States and neighboring countries. Giles will report directly to Dirac Chief Sales Officer Mats Oberg.
Prior to joining Dirac, Giles was Senior Director of Business Development for audio platform developer DSP Concepts, where he was responsible for building commercial and partner relationships with semiconductor manufacturers. Before that he was Head of Sales, North America at Knowles Intelligent Audio, a provider of audio solutions to the mobile, hearing, health and IoT markets. From 2011 to 2017, Giles was VP of Business Operations & Development at the Global Semiconductor Alliance, an international trade organisation representing more than 400 member companies.
“This is an incredibly exciting time for Dirac and the audio industry in general, as customers increasingly demand high-quality sound experiences across all of their devices—smartphones, automobiles, headphones, home audio, gaming systems and more,” stated Wade. “Dirac’s deep portfolio of marketbest solutions and IP, combined with my industry knowledge and business connections, ensures that the company will capitalise on this market momentum and bolster its audio industry leadership position in the Americas and beyond.”
SAVANT SMART AUDIO WISA SOUNDBAR 55
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RGB Head Office, 2 Lambourn Business Park, Lambourn Woodlands, Hungerford, RG17 7RY
EXERTIS NOW UK DISTRIBUTOR FOR TRIANGLE HI-FI
Exertis has boosted its premium audio offering by becoming distributor to French audio specialists, Triangle Hi-Fi, focusing on the manufacturer’s ‘highly-regarded’ Borea range of speakers.
Celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, Triangle’s philosophy is built around dynamic and vivid sound performance. Its Borea loudspeaker range delivers a ‘class-leading vocal and midrange performance combined with punchy and controlled bass’ according to the French company. The cabinets and driver membranes are inspired by previous generations of successful Triangle products and the Borea range is already the subject of not one, but two 5-star reviews from market-leading audio reviews website, Whathifi.com.
Richard Booth, Commercial Brand Manager, Premium Audio, Exertis, says: “We’re thrilled to be appointed distributor for Triangle, and we are looking forward to establishing the brand as a major player in the Hi-Fi speaker market. We believe Triangle’s dynamic, precise sound and elegant design will make this range extremely appealing to the UK audio market.”
Hugo Decelle, CEO, Triangle, comments: “We are excited to begin this partnership with Exertis. Its premium audio team has a proven track record building market share for high-quality audio brands, and we look forward to building this partnership together, and bringing the excellent sound quality and design of Triangle loudspeakers to UK consumers.”
Exertis exertis.co.uk
Exertis bags a new brand in Triangle Hi-Fi
MARTIN LOGAN CI PRODUCTS FROM PMC DISTRIBUTION UK
Custom Installation products from Martin Logan come to the UK installer market, bringing highperformance solutions for distributed audio, video and home cinema projects, thanks to exclusive distributor, PMC Distribution UK.
Martin Logan has an enviable reputation for its custom installation products - of which it has five ranges.
Masterpiece CI is designed to be the pinnacle of discreet in-wall and in-ceiling loudspeaker design. The flagship model in this range, the Statement 40XW, boasts 16 x Folded Motion XT Obsidian tweeters, 16 x 3.5in carbon fibre midrange drivers and eight 6.5in carbon fibre woofers, all housed in a 2.1m tall enclosure that fits between wall studs for a virtually invisible installation. The Masterpiece series also features three smaller in-wall products.
The price versus performance benchmark is set by the three strong ElectroMotion Series. The two inceiling models, ElectroMotion R and ElectroMotion IC boast an 8in and 6.5in aluminium woofer respectively, coupled to a FoldedMotion tweeter. They are complemented by the in-wall variant, the ElectroMotion IW, with the same 6.5in woofer and tweeter units.
Aluminium cone woofers form the heart of the Helos Series. These two in-ceiling speakers, the Helos 12 and Helos 22 both use a 6.5in woofer. The Helos 12 is a high-performance single driver for use in multiple unit configurations in medium and small rooms, such as an in-ceiling 5.1 or 7.1 system. For installations where budget constrains apply, the Installer Series provides Martin Logan quality at an affordable price with a nine strong line up. The loudspeakers are all supported by the Martin Logan MDA Series, audio matrix distribution amplifiers.
Ian Sutton, PMC Distribution UK’s director said, “We are delighted to bring the entire Martin Logan custom installation range to the UK for the first time. These products are real game changers, with no other brand able to offer such breadth and variety in its range of CI speakers. Whether the project is a whole house distributed background audio system or a fully-fledged dedicated high-end home cinema installation, there is a Martin Logan install speaker for the job.”
PMC Distribution UK pmc-speakers.com Since 2003, Artison has set the standard in innovative solutions for home theatres, music reproduction and AV meeting rooms.
Their product range includes; unique dual channel technology ‘left, centre, right’ speakers which eliminate the need for a centre speaker, soundbars designed to be hidden in plain sight, easy to install architectural in-wall/ ceiling speakers, amplifiers and the world’s smallest high-performance subwoofer.
Find out more at rgbcomms.co.uk
rgbcomms.co.uk
or call us today on 01488 73366
RGB Head Office, 2 Lambourn Business Park, Lambourn Woodlands, Hungerford, RG17 7RY
PROCELLA AUDIO APPOINTS BEN LANCASTER SALES AGENT (UK AND IRELAND)
DbM and Trinnov Audio have cemented a distribution partnership that allows DbM to provide its customers with access to the full range of home theatre preamplifiers and processors - including the award-winning reference immersive audio processor, Altitude 32.
“We have worked with Trinnov in the past and have always considered the company as our preferred brand when it comes to preamplifers and processors,” says Barry Sheldrick, Director of Sales at DbM. “The company is dedicated to providing the highest standard products possible and back this up with continuous research and outstanding customer service, all of which are important factors when we are looking for new brands to partner with. We are excited to formalise a distribution agreement with Trinnov and look forward to developing our relationship over the coming years.”
Represented in 55 countries, with over 6,000 installations worldwide, Trinnov is involved in all aspects of audio production. Its processors are found in some of the world’s most advanced professional music and film studios for production, mixing and playback, in thousands of commercial cinema screens and in many of the finest residential home theatre and stereo systems.
“It’s great for DbM and Trinnov to be able to collaborate together to benefit the UK dealer network,” says Tom Garrett, International Sales Manager for Trinnov Audio. “DbM’s commitment to supplying excellent products and Trinnov’s mastery of immersive audio and digital acoustics offers a hard to beat package. We are delighted to extend our partnership with DbM and Invision.”
Trinnov products will be added to DbM’s complimentary Design and Specification Service, which is designed to make it quicker and easier for integrators to specify the right products for their projects. Dealers can also explore the range of solutions from Trinnov at DbM’s HQ in Cambridgeshire, with the DbM Lounge featuring the Trinnov Altitude 32 processor.
DbM meridian-audio.com
Trinnov trinnov.com
A new deal between DbM and Trinnov
Procella Audio, manufacturer of high-performance, high-definition speaker systems for home and professional cinema and music applications, has announce the appointment of Ben Lancaster as Procella’s Sales Agent for the U.K. and Ireland.
A well-known name in the world of AV, Ben is a high-end home cinema veteran and will operate from a base in Saffron Walden, just outside of Cambridge.
This appointment, effective immediately, also marks the launch of a new Dealer Direct Sales Program for the company in the UK and Ireland which provides new discounts and benefits to dealers on product shipped directly from the factory in Sweden.
Gerben Van Duyl, Co-CEO and founder of Procella Audio, said that the decision to appoint Ben as sales agent took ‘about 20 seconds’.
Gerben added, “Receiving Ben’s email, in which he informed me that he was available and keen to work with us, was a true deus ex machina moment, presenting to us the right person at the right time...just perfect!
“We are happy to move away from the distributor model, as we have found it to be slow and cumbersome. Removing us from direct contact with our dealers has proven to be counter-productive. We prefer to work direct with our dealers, whilst providing local support by an experienced industry operator, for which Ben is just the perfect individual.”
Ben explains, “Having worked with Gerben and Anders at Procella Audio as part of the UK distribution team in the past, I could not be more excited about representing them again in the UK. Giving dealers the support they need, when they need it and getting true high performance professional grade speakers specified into residential home cinemas and media rooms is what I love to do.”
Procella is also announcing a trifecta of Brexit Beater discounts and benefits for dealers in the UK and Ireland. The first is an overall reduction of 5% on retail and dealer pricing for all products, effective immediately. Next, an additional discount of 5% will be applied for orders of recommended complete home cinema speaker packages. Finally, Procella Audio will deliver all orders to dealers with freight and customs charges prepaid. More details are available from Ben on 07494 450958 or by email at ben@procella.audio.
Procella procella.audio
Procella Audio has appointed a new sales agent for the UK and Ireland
