Adam Audio is re-launching its business worldwide. Current ADAM Audio CEO, Ferdinand von Wrede announced from their world headquarters in Berlin that he has appointed industry veteran David Hetrick as the speaker manufacturer’s North American CEO and will re-launch the US-business with a new Nashville, TN headquarters.
North American CEO.
Revitalized with new ownership, the German speaker manufacturer is rebuilding its worldwide business following the insolvency announced in November 2014 and the subsequent acquisition and reorganization by CWM, a German investment company, announced in December 2014. Since January 2015, Adam Audio resumed production of both their professional monitor and hi-fi speakers and is already investing in the development of new products.
The current President of ADAM Audio USA, Roger Fortier, will leave the company by mutual agreement after a handover to David Hetrick in the coming weeks. “I’m impressed at the speed and quality that David has managed to build a dedicated new team and organization since having only been appointed Head of Professional Sales in May 2015,” praised von Wrede. “We’re looking forward to growing ADAM Audio and taking it back to the strong position it held in the recent years in the US. At the same time we are grateful for Roger’s leadership in this company over the last few years.”
Hetrick is known to many in the pro audio industry for helping develop ground breaking products Layla, Ezbus and Studio Precision monitors during his tenure at Event Electronics. Later he had a series of significant strategic successes at KRK as the Director of Worldwide Sales that resulted in a growth of 400% for the brand.
“The philosophy behind the re-launch of ADAM Audio in the USA is to build a team and a structure from the ground-up. We are going to implement a specific strategy for each product line within the ADAM brand that caters directly to the market needs,” Hetrick said.
ADAM Audio celebrated their US re-launch during the 2015 Summer NAMM show with a lavish party at their new offices just a few blocks from Nashville’s Music City Center on July 9.
Adam's return
ADAM Audio is a manufacturer of loudspeakers in Pro Audio as well as in the HiFi market. Founded 1999 in Berlin, Germany, the company’s loudspeakers have set high standards around the world when it comes to precise monitoring and natural sound reproduction. The widely varied product lineup of the company spans from professional studio monitors (SX, AX, and F series), to Multimedia and Home Theater/Installation loudspeakers (ARTist and GTC range) to the high-end home entertainment models (Classic series). The trademark all ADAM models have in common is the proprietary X-ART tweeter. Handmade in Berlin, Germany, it performs with a nearly flat frequency response reaching up to 50 kHz. A growing number of the most famous and prestigious studios around the world own and use ADAM monitors.
The development of the ART (Accelerating Ribbon Technology) tweeter by Klaus Heinz was based on the 1960’s invention of the Air Motion Transformer by Oskar Heil and was largely responsible for the company’s founding. After ten years of being on the market, the original ART driver construction had been re-engineered from scratch and became known as X-ART (eXtended Accelerating Ribbon Technology). Based on the ART technology, these new X-ART tweeters and midrange speakers are characterized by an extended frequency range and higher efficiency compared to their predecessors. In order to realize the full bandwidth of the X-ART tweeter of up to 50 kHz, ADAM has developed their own A/B amplifier with a bandwidth of up to 300 kHz which has brought significant improvements to sound reproduction.
ADAM Audio has 50 employees at the Berlin factory and is represented worldwide through a network of distributers and dealers in more than 75 countries. A growing number of the most famous and prestigious studios around the world own and use ADAM monitors. Based on its vast experience in the studio monitor market, ADAM Audio also entered the Hi-Fi and home speakers markets.
ADAM Audio was co-founded by Klaus Heinz and Roland Stenz in 1999; Roland Stenz left the company in 2010 to form EVE Audio.
Klaus Heinz remained at the helm of ADAM Audio until the company filed for bankruptcy in November 2014. Heinz declared the company bankruptcy resulted from “too fast a growth with too many products created a capital demand we could not raise.”
Following negotiations with different investors, in December 2014 Adam Audio returned to business when CWM, a German investment company acquired all of the assets of the loudspeaker manufacturer. CWM is a Munich-based holding company formed by financial entrepreneurs including (managing directors) Sebastian Canzler and Ferdinand von Wrede. Co-founder and head of R&D Klaus Heinz has meanwhile also left the company. Sven Schmöle, remains as ADAM Audio’s managing director.
www.adam-audio.com
