A retailer near St. Louis has teamed up with a US electronics manufacturer to become a supplier of speakers and amplifiers under the brand AD Designs.
Retailer, Audio Dynamics was seeking a car audio brand with protected distribution and decided to offer the products itself. It partnered with a California based manufacturer that has been building electronics since 1946, and now offers several lines of US-built speaker and amplifiers it claims sound better than others at twice the price.
AD Designs is currently only selling to 4 other dealers besides Audio Dynamics, claiming it is highly selective. It expects to expand to about 20 dealers by the end of the year. The new brand appears to be winning some name recognition. “We’re getting 50 or 60 likes a day on Facebook,” said company owner Aaron White.
An interesting side note about AD Designs is the way its partner-store Audio Dynamics has used it to change its retail approach. In speakers and amps, the store sells mostly AD Designs products, which deliver high enough margins that the store can afford to sell head units at very competitive prices. In fact, Audio Dynamics will match any price price on the Internet, it claims. It even invites consumers to comparison shop on their smartphones. The two- store chain says it sells over $1 million a year in car audio combined.
To successfully sell an off brand product, the store focuses heavily on demonstration. It has an unusual demo set up with an in-store switching system that feeds into a demo car filled with AD Designs products. So customers can listen to AB switched comparisons in a car environment.
As for AD Designs, it will make ready in about 30 days a Mercedes Sprinter van that is a sound room on wheels to drive to various dealers to demo AD Designs products against other leading speaker brands.
The company currently works with a single manufacturer’s rep but is considering adding more.
Products include 5 subwoofer lines, 3 amplifier lines, one coaxial line and 3 lines of components. A second coaxial line will launch next month.
Subwoofer soft parts and coils are made in the U.S. and magnets and frames are sourced elsewhere. Component speaker sets and coaxials are produced outside the U.S. Component drivers include more popular models at around $349 list price. Subwoofers are available in 10-, 12-, 15- and 18 inch sizes. White claims his speakers match or exceed the sound quality of $700 to $,1000 counterparts.
Typical amplifiers sell around $299, offering “realistic tonality and more life-like sound.”
“We think we’re on to something,” because people “are falling in love with it. Not just because it has a certain name on it,” White said.
The full line of subwoofers range in price from $89 to $699 and amplifiers range from $199 to $2,299 in retail pricing. Component sets range from $349 to $699 and coaxials from $129 to $299 retail prices.
The company is working on an extensive manual for creating speaker enclosures for its woofers to match different types of cars such as hatchbacks or sedans. It may also offer speaker enclosures in the future.
Source: CEoutlook
I think the title is a bit misleading… Reading your article, it sounds like only the subwoofers are assembled in the US… Everything else sounds like it’s built overseas. Your article says nothing about the amps being built in the US?
Amps are built in the US too. Just didn’t go into detail. Thanks for pointing it out in case anyone else was wondering.
Amy