Another JL Audio Exec Retires

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Jeff Scoon retires JL Audio

Jeff Scoon, VP Electronics for JL Audio is retiring after 23 years with the company.

Scoon led a storied career in car audio, as leader at Precision Power during its heyday and the founder of Xtant, in addition to heading up the amplifier team at JL Audio.

Scoon is part of a fellowship of audio leaders that JVC’s Ron Trout calls the “Tempe Arizona amplifier mafia;” many of whom once worked at Rockford Fosgate and its off shoots.  They helped build the industry and many remain friendly competitors to this day.

Scoon entered car audio almost by accident. As the story goes, according to his industry associates, Scoon was in real estate but knew Ted Gunther of Precision Power. Scoon became a financial backer and when PPI was in trouble, Scoon stepped in. Around this time, Scoon also served as the president of IASCA and helped the organization expand world-wide. After leaving PPI, he founded Xtant, which he later sold to Loyd Ivey of MTX. He then moved on to JL Audio.

Ron Trout, Director of Sales at JVC Mobile said,  “When I worked at Rockford we were competitors.  It was like the Tempe Arizona amplifier mafia between Orion, Precision Power and Rockford.  We all knew each other and hung out and competed with each other. He was a good competitor. His perspective on what car audio should be was a little different than ours at Rockford.  We figured if it wasn’t loud, it wasn’t good and he was more of a sound quality guy.  We would argue our sound quality was as good, but he was always more focused on that.”
Trout and Scoon were among those who helped start the competition association IASCA along with Larry Frederick who passed away this year, and others. “Jeff was always involved. It was all volunteer.  PPI always had a presence…Jeff was on the board of directors. He had a lot of really good input…Jeff was always one of the 20 people who would be there at the bitter end volunteering his time.”

Scoon was instrumental in using digital technology and optical cable back in the early 90s, said Jeff Peters, Sales Manager for Elettromedia USA.   “No one was doing that stuff. I think Jeff was very influential. He always had an eye on the future and always wanted to be a technology leader and inventor and creator and that’s why a lot of us wanted to work with him, besides his being an extremely nice man. …”

CEO of Cicada Larry VanSickel calls Scoon, “the silent giant of the 12v industry. Jeff and my personal and professional lives co-mingled for over 30 years. He was always focused on industry leading products with a constant focus on quality. His beginnings were at PPI and Xtant, while having a big hand in the success of IASCA.  Finally I was happy to see him land at JL and be a part of their continued growth and success across the whole 12v industry.”

Scoon’s volunteering on behalf of the industry extended to other efforts.   Scoon, Loyd Ivey and several car audio retailers all joined “to form a coalition to protect the industry against legislation that would have made it a crime to play one’s car stereo too loud. Our efforts proved successful and friendships evolved,” said Kevin Campbell, recently retired as Director of Global Marketing from Kicker.  The friendship ultimately led to Campbell  leaving Rockford and assuming responsibility for sales and marketing at PPI in 1990.
Campbell added,  Scoon remains “a genuine and passionate person, and champion of goodwill , and although I haven’t seen or spoken with him in 3-4 years I wish him all the years and happiness in retirement he so richly deserves.”
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11 Comments

  1. We had a very storied beginning with Jeff at the start of this high power amplifier market pairing quality Precision Power amps with our high power handling subwoofers in many of our show cars across the country. What a great guy and a true professional for our industry who was there at the “very beginning” of this newly developed market in the late 70″s and early 80’s. Hope you have a great retirement Jeff!

    Best regards,
    Mark Pyle
    (formerly Pyle Industries – Pyle Driver Speakers)

  2. What good memories! Ron Trout’s description of the Phoenix late 80’s, early 90’s audio scene is spot on. The community was real and the spirit of discovery was shared. Jeff is such a cool leader. Under the watchful eye of his mom Pat, and irascible Ted Gunther, PPI forged friendships and collaborations across the industry. He had the vision to bring Carolyn Hall Young’s art to industry that was content to live in a world of black and its gradations. We had lots of fun!

    Congratulations on your retirement Jeff!

  3. Congratulations on a career that served our industry tremendously well!! Best wishes in retirement.
    Regards,

  4. Scoon is the BEST! To know him, is to love the man, a dignified professional. More of us should emulate his passion and commitment to industry. When he was the President of IASCA, I well remember the phone call one night a couple of decades ago. I was in my office working after hours, the OJ Simpson infamous car “chase” was on TV. Jeff said: “Paul, the ________’s, (former management of IASCA) have disappeared, we’re 6 weeks away from the IASCA World Finals in Tulsa, and all we know is that we have the venue paid for”. No solicitation has been sent to prospective exhibitors. The competition side of things was covered by Ron Trout, et al, can you produce the exhibition? The answer was obvious.

    Jeff, the man is forever cordial with only one “flaw” that only insiders knew. If he saw you at a restaurant, which at so many events would happen, he would invariably learn over and grab something off your plate to eat. So, one night at dinner at the 828 Café during the IASCA Finals in Greenville, I invited Jeff and Sam Z to dinner. Jeff’s back was to the door and didn’t see his cohorts that began to approach our table, all the while motioning to me not to recognize them coming forward. The lot of them leaned over Jeff and cleared his plate of food! It is an honor and privilege to call him a friend.

    Enjoy your retirement Jeff, well deserved.

  5. Jeff,
    You were always one of the folks that people looked up to in our industry. Thank you for serving us for so many years. May your next chapter be filled with unexpected blessings.

  6. The old guard at JL will be missed. Great men who help build the industry. Ron forget about MTX ☺️. They were a powerhouse in their own right with the Thunder line of amplifiers.

  7. Congratulations, Jeff. Enjoy. I covered your career at Autosound&Communications, CARS, and TWICE. You were always a good source and pleasant to work with.

  9. Jeff is one of those few individuals in the industry that has class, panache, honesty, humility, integrity and a great sense of humor. He always has a smile on his face and a warm greeting for everyone.

    Funny story. Back in the day when I was the PPI rep, Jeff and I were trying to pitch Randy Hooper at Hoopers electronics on a private label amplifier line. I had just recently gotten my pilots license and couldn’t wait to use it in my business. I told Jeff we were going to fly a Cessna 172 over there and back. He paused for about 10 seconds, and then said sure let’s go. We made that trip up and back to Meridian, Mississippi in one day. It was all good until the landing returning to McCollum Airport near Atlanta. I almost stalled the plane over the runway on final approval. Jeff never said a word and remained calm the whole time. We still laugh about that trip and how crazy we both were to fly over there to see Hoopers. Needless to say, we closed the deal and Hoopers had their own private label amplifiers that PPI manufactured for them.
    Another good story. We were at spring break nationals one year and wanted to eat at a particular restaurant. There were about 15 of us. I called that restaurant and they told me the placed was completely booked that evening. I mentioned we had Senator Scoon from Arizona who had heard great things about the restaurant would like to dine with them. They immediately made arrangements for a private room and table for Senator Scoon and his entourage. He played the part perfectly and they never suspected.
    Great times with a great individual. I consider him one of my few friends in this industry.

    Enjoy your retirement, Jeff I’m sure it’s just the next chapter in a great life

  10. Jeff has always been a great guy and was very helpful and accessible to me in my editorial roles at Car Stereo Review and Car Audio & Electronics. I appreciate the help and access he allowed me to have to the companies, products and personnel as I tested and wrote about the latest and greatest wares his companies offered.

    I wish you all the best in your retirement!!!! Enjoy the well earned rest, but you’ll probably get the itch again soon and start another award winning company soon enough!!! Haha

    1. Chris,

      Happy Holidays.

      Funny seeing you pop up after all these years and mention CA&E.

      Give me a shout at [email protected]. We can exchange phone numbers and get caught up. Hard to believe that it’s been 25 years since the CA&E days.

      Best,

      Rich

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