A Strategic Approach For The Custom Electronics Professional
Search results for Linear
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2009 Distributor Directory
April 2009 From CustomRetailer
In these challenging economic times, when a choice must be made about who a custom integrator will do business with, service is the differentiator—just as it is at the client level.
April 2009 From CustomRetailer
In these challenging economic times, when a choice must be made about who a custom integrator will do business with, service is the differentiator—just as it is at the client level.
Linear LLS Gathering Brand Momentum
September 2005 From CustomRetailer
Linear LLC's consumer technology brand acquisitions started quietly in 1999, with Xantech and Multiplex Technologies. Then they gathered steam in 2003 with the addition of SpeakerCraft, Elan Home Systems and gate/door control manufacturer Operator Specialty Company (OSCO), followed by the purchases of OmniMount and M&S Systems in 2004. This year, Linear's acquisition of Panamax in April and Niles Audio Corporation in July got everyone's attention. Linear, as a brand portfolio, is gathering market clout. Its parent company is Nortek Inc., a Providence, R.I.-based manufacturer/distributor of residential, light commercial and commercial building products. Formerly a public company, Nortek is now privately-held—through Nortek Holdings, by management
September 2005 From CustomRetailer
Linear LLC's consumer technology brand acquisitions started quietly in 1999, with Xantech and Multiplex Technologies. Then they gathered steam in 2003 with the addition of SpeakerCraft, Elan Home Systems and gate/door control manufacturer Operator Specialty Company (OSCO), followed by the purchases of OmniMount and M&S Systems in 2004. This year, Linear's acquisition of Panamax in April and Niles Audio Corporation in July got everyone's attention. Linear, as a brand portfolio, is gathering market clout. Its parent company is Nortek Inc., a Providence, R.I.-based manufacturer/distributor of residential, light commercial and commercial building products. Formerly a public company, Nortek is now privately-held—through Nortek Holdings, by management
Feed Your Head
July 2005 From CustomRetailer
Dealer education and strategic goal-setting take on a cosmic bent at SpeakerCraft By Janet Pinkerton The dormouse in Alice in Wonderland never said it—no matter what Grace Slick sang—but "feed your head" might as well be a SpeakerCraft maxim. No, SpeakerCraft isn't endorsing hallucinogens. Rather, the loudspeaker manufacturer is attending to its dealers' mental focus and drive as individuals, and their goals and strategies as companies. "Our whole spin on the world is that everybody has to be imparting knowledge to somebody, or else the world stays the same," says SpeakerCraft President Jeremy Burkhardt. SpeakerCraft's annual dealer meeting, the Global Intellectual Gathering (GIG), is
July 2005 From CustomRetailer
Dealer education and strategic goal-setting take on a cosmic bent at SpeakerCraft By Janet Pinkerton The dormouse in Alice in Wonderland never said it—no matter what Grace Slick sang—but "feed your head" might as well be a SpeakerCraft maxim. No, SpeakerCraft isn't endorsing hallucinogens. Rather, the loudspeaker manufacturer is attending to its dealers' mental focus and drive as individuals, and their goals and strategies as companies. "Our whole spin on the world is that everybody has to be imparting knowledge to somebody, or else the world stays the same," says SpeakerCraft President Jeremy Burkhardt. SpeakerCraft's annual dealer meeting, the Global Intellectual Gathering (GIG), is
Merger 101 When Vendors Become Brand Portfolios
September 2005 From CustomRetailer
By Janet Pinkerton The seismic shift taking place in the specialty A/V vendor landscape needs a soundtrack: perhaps the groans and gunfire-pops of windblown ice pressing the leeward side of a winter lake. Perhaps screeching changes of metallic gears. Perhaps the scuffling stampede of the leather-soled shoes of CE executives desperately running to keep up with their expanding business operations. Choose your acoustic metaphor: it's all about pressure, consolidation and change. The traditional video market, with its eroding plasma and LCD margins, is largely dormant when it comes to consolidation, but audio and A/V accessories—two chaotic but profit-margin-rich categories with scores of brands fighting
September 2005 From CustomRetailer
By Janet Pinkerton The seismic shift taking place in the specialty A/V vendor landscape needs a soundtrack: perhaps the groans and gunfire-pops of windblown ice pressing the leeward side of a winter lake. Perhaps screeching changes of metallic gears. Perhaps the scuffling stampede of the leather-soled shoes of CE executives desperately running to keep up with their expanding business operations. Choose your acoustic metaphor: it's all about pressure, consolidation and change. The traditional video market, with its eroding plasma and LCD margins, is largely dormant when it comes to consolidation, but audio and A/V accessories—two chaotic but profit-margin-rich categories with scores of brands fighting
Ingram Micro's AVAD Proposition
September 2005 From CustomRetailer
It's a sweetheart of a deal for AVAD's founders, but is the rest of the industry feeling the love? By Janet Pinkerton Ingram Micro's purchase of AVAD, a deal completed July 21, has evoked a curious mix of industry awe and dread—awe for the manufacturers' reps who created the distribution group and sold it for big bucks, and dread for what an Ingram Micro-owned AVAD might do to specialty A/V margins and the overall custom retail business. The business questions surrounding this deal focus on what vendors will do now that AVAD is owned and capitalized by Ingram Micro, the enormous IT distributor that
September 2005 From CustomRetailer
It's a sweetheart of a deal for AVAD's founders, but is the rest of the industry feeling the love? By Janet Pinkerton Ingram Micro's purchase of AVAD, a deal completed July 21, has evoked a curious mix of industry awe and dread—awe for the manufacturers' reps who created the distribution group and sold it for big bucks, and dread for what an Ingram Micro-owned AVAD might do to specialty A/V margins and the overall custom retail business. The business questions surrounding this deal focus on what vendors will do now that AVAD is owned and capitalized by Ingram Micro, the enormous IT distributor that
The 2004 C-Business 50
April 2004 From CustomRetailer
Today's evolving C-Business landscape is like a Rohrschach test, in that the patterns look different to everyone that takes a peek. But in spite of—or perhaps as a result of—the explosive changes taking place in technology and business practices, the sector remains rich with possibility and continues to grow exponentially. Sometimes that success is driven by companies and individuals whose work is often overlooked in the larger scope of events. Other times, the success is the work of highly visible forces, who bring forth visionary ideas that rock the industry. All of which brings us to this year's C-Business 50. Each year, Custom Retailer
April 2004 From CustomRetailer
Today's evolving C-Business landscape is like a Rohrschach test, in that the patterns look different to everyone that takes a peek. But in spite of—or perhaps as a result of—the explosive changes taking place in technology and business practices, the sector remains rich with possibility and continues to grow exponentially. Sometimes that success is driven by companies and individuals whose work is often overlooked in the larger scope of events. Other times, the success is the work of highly visible forces, who bring forth visionary ideas that rock the industry. All of which brings us to this year's C-Business 50. Each year, Custom Retailer
Hardware Spotlight ? Yamaha
February 2003 From CustomRetailer
Yamaha LPX-500 Home Theater Projector By Grant Clauser As is the case with many of the latest home theater projectors, the spiritual ancestors of Yamaha's new, LCD-based LPX-500 lit up PowerPoint presentations in corporate boardrooms everywhere. Because the competing DLP technology has usurped much of the home theater market, it's somewhat surprising to see Yamaha come out with a high-definition LCD model, particularly when the company is also already in the DLP camp. So why do it? In a word: price. The LPX-500 does HD for under $6,000, while DLP projectors at that level cost at least $10,000. There are both
February 2003 From CustomRetailer
Yamaha LPX-500 Home Theater Projector By Grant Clauser As is the case with many of the latest home theater projectors, the spiritual ancestors of Yamaha's new, LCD-based LPX-500 lit up PowerPoint presentations in corporate boardrooms everywhere. Because the competing DLP technology has usurped much of the home theater market, it's somewhat surprising to see Yamaha come out with a high-definition LCD model, particularly when the company is also already in the DLP camp. So why do it? In a word: price. The LPX-500 does HD for under $6,000, while DLP projectors at that level cost at least $10,000. There are both
EXC!TE Awards: Control
October 2006 From CustomRetailer
Home Automation System: Crestron While upstart competitors aim for the venerable category leader’s downmarket underbelly, Crestron’s awesome array of technologies, products and systems still represents the state of the art in home automation. www.crestron.com Control4 Fresh off a nationwide deal with Tweeter, Control4 continues to pose the question: “Why can’t home automation be for everyone?” A growing number of C-businesses are eager to answer in the affirmative. www.control4.com Exceptional Innovation Lifeware With Lifeware, EI embraces both Windows Media Center and a number of best-of-breed third-party products. The question over the next year: Will C-businesses embrace EI and its buzzworthy platform? www.exceptionalinnovation.com Media Server: Niveus
October 2006 From CustomRetailer
Home Automation System: Crestron While upstart competitors aim for the venerable category leader’s downmarket underbelly, Crestron’s awesome array of technologies, products and systems still represents the state of the art in home automation. www.crestron.com Control4 Fresh off a nationwide deal with Tweeter, Control4 continues to pose the question: “Why can’t home automation be for everyone?” A growing number of C-businesses are eager to answer in the affirmative. www.control4.com Exceptional Innovation Lifeware With Lifeware, EI embraces both Windows Media Center and a number of best-of-breed third-party products. The question over the next year: Will C-businesses embrace EI and its buzzworthy platform? www.exceptionalinnovation.com Media Server: Niveus
Linear Builder’s Program Launches Web Site
January 2007 From News
Vendor Linear’s Builder’s Program has launched a Web site at www.linearbuilder.com that it said “will help builders, integrators and homebuyers find the technology packages they are looking for online.” The Linear Builder’s Program is a collection of nine product/technology packages and support services designed for builders of production and custom homes to integrate into their standard and optional offerings to homebuyers. The bundles consists of Linear’s products. “This is an exciting new sales tool for us,” said Bob Patton, Linear’s director of sales and marketing. “We wanted to develop a Web site that could stay current with the changes in technology and our new product
January 2007 From News
Vendor Linear’s Builder’s Program has launched a Web site at www.linearbuilder.com that it said “will help builders, integrators and homebuyers find the technology packages they are looking for online.” The Linear Builder’s Program is a collection of nine product/technology packages and support services designed for builders of production and custom homes to integrate into their standard and optional offerings to homebuyers. The bundles consists of Linear’s products. “This is an exciting new sales tool for us,” said Bob Patton, Linear’s director of sales and marketing. “We wanted to develop a Web site that could stay current with the changes in technology and our new product
Nortek Acquires LiteTouch and Gefen, Adds Them to Linear Home Technology Group
March 2007 From News
Nortek added two more companies to its burgeoning portfolio last week, acquiring lighting control manufacturer LiteTouch and connectivity vendor Gefen. The companies join Nortek’s Home Technology group, headed by Linear, LLC. Other members of the group include Niles Audio, Xantech, Elan Home Systems, OmniMount, SpeakerCraft, ChannelPlus, Open House, OSCO, M & S Systems, AirVac Central Vacuum Systems, Panamax, Imerge, Sunfire, GTO, Furman Sound, Secure Wireless, Advanced Bridging Technologies and Magenta Research. LiteTouch, the only party thus far to publicly comment on the acquisitions, said it will gain several advantages from its new parent, including “home automation industry synergies,” “operational leverage” and “additional promotion and trade exposure.” Nortek,
March 2007 From News
Nortek added two more companies to its burgeoning portfolio last week, acquiring lighting control manufacturer LiteTouch and connectivity vendor Gefen. The companies join Nortek’s Home Technology group, headed by Linear, LLC. Other members of the group include Niles Audio, Xantech, Elan Home Systems, OmniMount, SpeakerCraft, ChannelPlus, Open House, OSCO, M & S Systems, AirVac Central Vacuum Systems, Panamax, Imerge, Sunfire, GTO, Furman Sound, Secure Wireless, Advanced Bridging Technologies and Magenta Research. LiteTouch, the only party thus far to publicly comment on the acquisitions, said it will gain several advantages from its new parent, including “home automation industry synergies,” “operational leverage” and “additional promotion and trade exposure.” Nortek,
Linear Acquires Allstar
May 2007 From News
Linear LLC said it has “strengthened its position in the entry systems marketplace” with its acquisition last month of Allstar, a Downingtown, Pa.-based manufacturer of gate operators, commercial and residential garage door operators, and radio controls. The new company’s name is AllStar Pro LLC. No terms were disclosed. “Allstar is a very good fit and a welcome addition for us,” said Linear President Dan Stottlemyre. “Collectively, with our complementary product lines, we can offer customers an even broader range of entry system choices.” “We are very pleased about this acquisition and look forward to the many positives made possible by a larger enterprise—manufacturing efficiencies, ongoing product improvements
May 2007 From News
Linear LLC said it has “strengthened its position in the entry systems marketplace” with its acquisition last month of Allstar, a Downingtown, Pa.-based manufacturer of gate operators, commercial and residential garage door operators, and radio controls. The new company’s name is AllStar Pro LLC. No terms were disclosed. “Allstar is a very good fit and a welcome addition for us,” said Linear President Dan Stottlemyre. “Collectively, with our complementary product lines, we can offer customers an even broader range of entry system choices.” “We are very pleased about this acquisition and look forward to the many positives made possible by a larger enterprise—manufacturing efficiencies, ongoing product improvements
Spotlight: Homeowners Could Use a Little Structure
June 2007 From CustomRetailer
Like many Americans, I live in wire hell, although perhaps in a deeper circle of wire hell than most. My old Craftsman home has DirecTV satellite feeding three entertainment systems, a home office with a fax machine, two computers hooked into high-speed internet, business and VoIP phone lines and a dedicated home theater in my converted garage. Each application requires a tangle of wires that run up my walls and across my floors, where they lay together in dusty clumps. Still, even my issues are amateur compared to what custom integrators and builders need to address: security, lighting, HVAC, whole-house audio, intercoms. I shudder
June 2007 From CustomRetailer
Like many Americans, I live in wire hell, although perhaps in a deeper circle of wire hell than most. My old Craftsman home has DirecTV satellite feeding three entertainment systems, a home office with a fax machine, two computers hooked into high-speed internet, business and VoIP phone lines and a dedicated home theater in my converted garage. Each application requires a tangle of wires that run up my walls and across my floors, where they lay together in dusty clumps. Still, even my issues are amateur compared to what custom integrators and builders need to address: security, lighting, HVAC, whole-house audio, intercoms. I shudder
Spotlight: Some Prominent Structured Wiring Solutions and Applications
June 2007 From CustomRetailer
Channel Vision Central features easy-to-install, easy-to-upgrade modular structured wiring systems and components. Each component in the system can be effortlessly snapped into place inside a panel. Solutions range from entry-level up to premium packages, simplifying system design and offering the installer flexibility to address various situations. System products include amplified RF products, computer products, enclosures and covers, fiber optics, IR distribution, passive RF products, satellite distribution, speaker distribution, structured modulation, telephone products and wall plates. www.channelvision.com Imagine a fire started in your client’s home. Through Honeywell’s Internet Connection Module (ICM), the security system is triggered, a buzzer sounds to wake occupants, the HVAC system
June 2007 From CustomRetailer
Channel Vision Central features easy-to-install, easy-to-upgrade modular structured wiring systems and components. Each component in the system can be effortlessly snapped into place inside a panel. Solutions range from entry-level up to premium packages, simplifying system design and offering the installer flexibility to address various situations. System products include amplified RF products, computer products, enclosures and covers, fiber optics, IR distribution, passive RF products, satellite distribution, speaker distribution, structured modulation, telephone products and wall plates. www.channelvision.com Imagine a fire started in your client’s home. Through Honeywell’s Internet Connection Module (ICM), the security system is triggered, a buzzer sounds to wake occupants, the HVAC system
August 2007 From CustomRetailer
Manufacturers of central vacuum systems have been engaging the custom electronics installation market for several years now, to varying degrees of success. Perhaps now, their time has come, as numerous trends are working in their favor. For one, their products, which they claim can remove indoor pollutants, play into the touchy-feely “green living” trend. Secondly, builders increasingly are looking to differentiate their homes in the midst of a softening housing market. And finally, the days of big profits on flat panels are gone for the custom installation market, and the hunt is on for products that can deliver high margin. Still, there are challenges
September 2007 From News
The Linear Home Technology Group, which includes SpeakerCraft, Niles Audio, ELAN, ATON and Xantech, unveiled DIGI-5, a low-cost audio distribution technology that will serve as a common platform for easier integration of products released by Linear’s brands. The company also plans to make the platform available to other companies that meet certain licensing requirements. Announced Wednesday at Fall CEDIA Expo 2007 in Denver, the protocol is designed to transmit digital music over CAT-5 wiring. It is the first collaborative development project to emerge from the various companies under the Linear umbrella. The announcement was made ahead of a series of SpeakerCraft product
