North America comprises an estimated 50% of the world's market for professional sound systems; it's even a bigger piece of the pie if you include installed sound, which increasingly blurs the borderline with the also-expanding high-end residential audio sector. No wonder everyone wants in.
Three European speaker and system manufacturing companies have secured beachheads in the U.S. in the last couple of years, and each has their own strengths. Outline Audio, based in Brescia, Italy, brings with it products for all of the major market sectors, including three line array systems for touring sound, architectural and cinema series and an array of DSP, mixers and amplifiers that make it look a bit like Harman with a light dusting of Parmesan on top: a comprehensive, selfsupporting solutions set for a wide variety of applications. DAS Audio, based out of Valencia, Spain, is strong in compact and installed systems and components, and places an emphasis on its D-15, Europe's first indigenous injection- molded 15-inch enclosure. The company emphasizes its efficient manufacturing design and is the first of the three to establish its own subsidiary offices in the U.S., in Miami, after entering the market through domestic distribution.
Finland-based LDS (LjudDesign Scandanavia) went after theatrical markets in Scandinavia and Europe early on, and with the help of noted theatrical sound designer Andrew Bruce; its Line Source System speaker technology has penetrated the tough key first-run theatrical markets of London and New York.
These three companies come to the U.S. market at an interesting time, one that offers advantages and drawbacks. Chief among the latter are a market already dominated by a strong core of brands, including JBL, EAW and Meyer Sound, and the fact that the U.S. dollar's year-long slide against the Euro — the currency of record for all three new arrivals — keeps upping the prices of their imported products.
But there is a template for success in crossing the Atlantic, pioneered by France-based L-ACOUSTICS. That company brought out a finished version of a new technology — the line array — at the right moment, just as the touring industry was highly receptive to a wide-coverage P.A. system that could be flown and broken down quickly and easily. In fact, Outline Audio plans to follow in L-ACOUSTICS' footsteps in another way in the near future, by establishing some degree of manufacturing in the U.S. That, says Tim Mo- rin, president of Morin Productions, Outline's New Hampshirebased North American distributor, addresses two issues. "We'd be cutting 30% of the costs immediately, which will make the products more competitive," he says. "And we're doing this at a time when EAW is moving its manufacturing completely offshore. Having U.S. manufacturing operations is a way to keep the relationship between the buyer and the dealer strong." However, Paul Carelli, the distributor's vice president of sales & marketing, says definite plans to manufacture in the U.S. are still pending, and that the U.S. is still a buyers' market. "With a couple of dozen companies making line arrays, the only way to really make it is to get the product out in front of customers," he says, with a focus on regional touring companies.
Jack Kelly, president of Group One, which distributes XTA and MC2 processing and amplifier products that both complement, and to some extent compete with, the new European arrivals, says the U.S. is a product-driven market, one that's receptive to well-timed new ideas, regardless of where they come from and, sometimes, regardless of the initial cost. "If it's a compelling product, it'll get attention in the U.S. market," he says.
In fact, the laments about the encroachment of Chinese economics on the live sound technology might play into a desire for European design, for the same reason that people don't question the inherent value of a Maserati or a Saab when you compare them with a Hyundai. That perceptual advantage is speculative, but other economic arguments aren't. All three companies are based in countries that have well-evolved live and installed sound infrastructures, especially Spain, where Ibiza is to dance clubs what Las Vegas is to gambling. And the equipment's design and execution is not theoretical; this stuff has been tested under battle conditions.
The arrival of new European brands adds a dimension to a market that has increasingly focused on costs, price and transfer of manufacturing to offshore locations. Boutique brands are well-positioned to leverage the niche-market trends that have emerged across various market sectors. And if they can absorb the punch caused by exchange rates, they'll be properly entrenched to take advantage of a stronger dollar.
E-mail Dan at ddaley@fohonline.com.
