Scott Buwalda, a founding member of Hybrid Audio and APEX Co., the parent of Zapco have formed a new company called Aurigin to be the new exclusive master distributor of Zapco in the US.
Effective immediately, distribution of Zapco products will transition from Atrend USA to Aurigin (pronounced “Origin”) based in Atlanta, GA
APEX said it has made “significant investments into the R&D of new and innovative products for the car environment,” and that it is seeking a more direct role in the sales and marketing of its products.
Any current authorized Zapco reseller will have the opportunity to continue as a Zapco dealer by submitting an updated dealer agreement with Aurigin for review.
Aurigin will immediately assume warranty, technical support and other services, it said. Terms of the warranty and the “one year over the counter exchange” policy implemented by Atrend will remain in place under the same conditions.
Atrend and APEX will continue to work together to provide information and assistance to all Zapco resellers and consumers, said Aurigin.
Buwalda said, “I have a long history with Zapco. I was a champion with Zapco product back in 2000, 2001. I’ve loved the product for two decades now and it’s just a natural fit for us.”
John Borges of Zapco said the company has been heavily investing in research and development for the past few years in both sound quality and digital processing. “Rather than just use the chip makers’ firmware and have a new GUI made, we put together a team of designers and programmers in Italy to build our own processing from hardware, to firmware, to software. With our modular design and twice the processing power of other DSPs, the new V-Series processors can operate at 96K or 192K, 8Ch or 16Ch , have analog or digital outputs, optional DACs, and any combination analog and digital inputs including i2S ports. And, all versions have an on-board HD player. The idea was to set a new state of the art for today on a platform that is ready for whatever becomes possible tomorrow.”
By next year, nearly every Zapco amplifier will either include on-board DPS or an on-board DAC and digital input, said Borges, adding, “For the audiophile gear, RCAs are soon to be a thing of the past.”
Aurigin said one of its first initiatives will be to increase training and technical support. This will start at KnowledgeFest next month.
To contact Aurigin email [email protected] or call 833-AURIGIN
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