German speaker manufacturer ELAC announced today that it has returned to the North American market with a new line of speakers, a new U.S. design center and – perhaps most significantly – a new Vice President of Engineering, the highly respected Andrew Jones. The company plans to launch their new ELAC Debut™ speaker line at the upcoming T.H.E. Show Newport in Irvine, CA at the end of this month.
See more on this surprising, multi-faceted announcement…
The company did not release many specifics on its new Debut series of speakers, preferring to hold most of that back until their exhibition opens at T.H.E. Show coming up on May 29-31, 2015. However, the company did tease the fact that this was to be the “first of many” more planned speaker series.
But the most interesting part of their announcement is that renowned loudspeaker system designer Andrew Jones has joined the company as its Vice President of Engineering. Andrew Jones has a long history in our industry, most recently as the Chief Speaker Engineer for Pioneer Electronics. Prior to Pioneer, Jones did stints at Infinity, KEF, and Technical Audio Devices (TAD).
Active…and secret…since February…
Chris Walker, ELAC Vice President of Product Development – and also ex-Pioneer – told us that Jones actually joined ELAC in February of this year, but the company chose to hold that announcement until this line was ready to launch.
“ELAC is pleased to bring Andrew Jones on board, as the company expands into a global market with products that establish benchmarks for performance and quality at every price point and in every category of the consumer audio market,” says Gunter Kürten, managing director of the 89-year old company.
From ELAC website – ribbon tweeter technology used in some existing models
New design center and ‘Americas’ headquarters…
Jones will work out of the company’s new design facility in Cypress, CA – which will also serve as headquarters for ELAC Americas as well. According to ELAC, their new Debut series of theater speakers were designed there.
While we don’t know much, we do know that Debut series is comprised of eight models, with floorstanding, bookshelf, center-channel, and Dolby Atmos-enabled speakers included. There are also three powered subwoofers to move you…literally, move you. It is no surprise that the a line designed by Jones would address the emerging Dolby Atmos market – he has been talking bullishly about Atmos for some time now as Pioneer was one of the first brands to support the technology.
Keep an eye…
“My design objective was to achieve the most accurate sound possible in speakers that deliver performance far exceeding their cost,” said Jones in a prepared statement. “I’ve employed materials and design specification not found in speakers in this rice range. From cone materials to driver geometry to subwoofer amplification, we built serious value into the Debut series.”
We’re going to keep our eyes on this company – and suggest you do the same.
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German speaker manufacturer ELAC announced today that it has returned to the North American market with a new line of speakers, a new U.S. design center and – perhaps most significantly – a new Vice President of Engineering, the highly respected Andrew Jones. The company plans to launch their new ELAC Debut™ speaker line at the upcoming T.H.E. Show Newport in Irvine, CA at the end of this month.
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