improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page . learn how and when to remove these template messages this article is an orphan as no other articles link to it . please introduce links to this page from related articles ; try the find link tool for suggestions . february 2009 a major contributor to this article appears to have a close connection with its subject . it may require cleanup to comply with wikipedia s content policies particularly neutral point of view . please discuss further on the talk page . january 2008 learn how and when to remove this template message learn how and when to remove this template message speakercraft type private founded 1976 headquarters riverside california key people ed haase ; founder ken humphreys ; founder nortek current owner core brands ; parent company industry audio products loudspeakers home audio architectural speakers home cinema theater electronics theater control systems website www.speakercraft.com speakercraft is an american 1 manufacturer of custom installed audio video and home theater products based in riverside california . contents 1 history 1.1 early research 2 proprietary technologies 2.1 architectural speakers 2.1.1 aim 2.1.2 time 2.2 waveplane 2.3 mode 3 current product lines 3.1 in ceiling 3.2 in wall 3.3 subwoofers 3.4 box speakers 3.5 outdoor speakers 3.6 control systems 4 market share 5 opinions about speakercraft 5.1 criticism 5.2 legal action 6 references 7 external links history edit speakercraft was founded in 1976 by edward haase ken humphreys and eugene humphreys . 2 beginning as a retail stereo store and original equipment manufacturer of loudspeakers for companies such as sonance niles audio bang and olufsen jbl polk audio and many others the company evolved into a designer and installer of custom audio systems . in 1988 humphreys sold his interest to jeff king sr. jeff remained with the company until it ultimately sold in 2000 to burkhardt management and kinsman capital . jeff was a major force in both operations and development as well as defining the companies position for future growth . he was the primary decision maker that included hiring jeremy burkhardt in 1991 in the companies 16th year of business . jeff francisco managed the custom installation business and retail store where he studied product development and developed custom systems for the company . in 1994 ed haase jeff king and jeremy burkhardt founded the speakercraft brand of architectural loudspeakers as a line of high end custom speakers ; they were set on making a new brand for the cedia marketplace . in 1999 haase and king offered burkhardt a partnership . 3 from 1994 to 2000 this team invented and patented products grew the brand and took market share . as mentioned burkhardt management and kinsman capital bought out haase and king with the two exiting the company in 2000 . burkhardt remained with the company serving as vice president of sale and marketing 4 along with jim munn the companies ceo and bob cavasos the companies cfo . this team up led to the fastest growth in company history kinsman s 3 access to capital vaulted speakercraft to the number one position in the industry . management and kinsman sold speakercraft again in 2004 to nortek inc for 58 million dollars and burkhardt like all minority shareholders benefited proportionately from this sale . 5 munn and cavasos stepped out and burkhardt 6 remained as a 32 year old ceo with a vision for growth seeing the ipod as forever the defining grounds for speakercraft s future in distributing audio through the home . 7 selected by ce pro magazine as a top ten industry leader burkhardt again leveraged his ownership and became an owner in nortek inc and was promoted to company ceo . since 1994 speakercraft has reinvented itself based on a common vision of innovation best of class products business training and close partnerships with their retailers . the company currently produces more than 1000 products which include loudspeakers amplifiers ipod multi room music distribution systems and accessories that allow for various system configurations and sizes . speakercraft s patented aim series of speakers is available in ceiling and wall versions ; these were patented by haase francisco and burkhardt are the largest advancements in architectural speakers . citation needed in 2007 haase returned to speakercraft as chief technical officer . developing some of the finest speakercraft inventions haase is known as the man that invented the in wall speaker . 8 early research edit ken humphreys and edward haase developed a series of architectural speakers speakers that use the structure of a building as the cabinet at the request of fleetwood enterprises of riverside california which wanted to incorporate high end speakers in its motor homes without taking up much space . their first experiment with replacing bulky box speakers was a speaker featuring an in wall mounted woofer a loudspeaker used to produce low pitch sounds . 9 they then tested the feasibility of using walls and ceilings as alternatives for speaker cabinets ; all experimenting was done with anechoic chambers microphones and wall enclosures . soon humphreys and haase reproduced the high quality sound produced by large space consuming box speakers in flush mounted architectural speakers . 2 much of this early work was done in conjunction with sonance dana innovations and both companies are credited with many early developments for architectural speakers . 2 5 10 11 12 13 proprietary technologies edit architectural speakers edit speakercraft s first innovation was the development of the architectural speaker . architectural speakers are built into either walls or ceilings and use the structure of the wall or ceiling as the cabinet to enhance performance . components of an architectural speaker include the driver actual speaker cross over which sends the correct frequencies to the correct driver and termination point which is where the speaker wires connect to the frame . driver configurations typically consist of two or three drivers that provide for the playback of the bass low frequencies the midrange mid level frequencies and tweeter high frequency signals . aim edit to overcome the directional limitations of in wall in ceiling speakers haase burkhardt and francisco invented and patented the aim speaker technology fully represented in speakercraft s directional in ceiling and in wall loudspeakers . aim in ceiling speakers pivot in a patented ball and socket arrangement toward the listener while recessed in the ceiling and in the wall they move side to side and aim toward the listening area . 14 time edit time theater in motion experience series speakers are flush mounted ceiling speakers that descend and rotate to direct sound to different positions in the room . this type of directable speaker was first invented by speakercraft in response to customer demand for customizable sound configurations . 15 waveplane edit speakercraft invented the waveplane a baffle that isolates the tweeter from the woofer in a coaxial ceiling speaker which results in improved high frequency dispersion and fidelity . 16 17 18 mode edit music on demand experience or mode is an audio control system that connects the apple ipod to a house wide music system . 2 current product lines edit in ceiling edit in ceiling speakers are a type of architectural speaker designed to flush mount into the ceiling of a structure . speakercraft in ceiling speakers include time and aim series crs and dt . 19 in wall edit in wall speakers are a type of architectural speaker designed to flush mount into the wall of a structure . speakercraft in wall speakers include aim lcr aim7 mt the rogue aim cinema aim cinema dipole aimlcr3 and accufit iw7 . 20 subwoofers edit subwoofers are loudspeakers designed to respond to only the lowest acoustic frequencies . 21 speakercraft s subwoofers include powered compact subwoofers passive in ceiling subwoofers powered floor subwoofers and powered in wall subwoofers . 22 box speakers edit box speakers are speakers with their own integrated cabinet compare with architectural speakers . speakercraft box speaker products include aim monitor and aim mdu . 22 outdoor speakers edit speakercraft s outdoor elements oe and rox lines are specialized box speakers meant to be used outdoors . 23 control systems edit control systems are a variety of remotes and keypads that allow the users to operate their speaker systems . speakercraft control systems include mode multi zone controllers ez pad system and smartpath . 24 market share edit speakercraft competes with major brands in the home audio and home theater markets such as the following truaudio paradigm electronics jbl klipsch snell triad def tech nht opinions about speakercraft edit speakercraft is viewed by trade publications and magazines as a niche producer of audio equipment on par in quality and price with klipsch and jbl but has been distinguished from its competitors for its innovation and ability to adapt to and incorporate new technologies such as apple s ipod . 25 26 criticism edit consumers have criticized speakercraft for the cost of its products . 27 however audiophiles also praise speakercraft for its lifetime warranty on products 28 and the quality of its product design features and sound . 29 30 legal action edit in 1995 dana innovations sonance sued speakercraft for infringement of patents on a method of retrofitting a wall to mount speakers . the speaker mounting system sonance claimed to have patented was in fact largely invented by the speakercraft partner ken humphreys as is evidenced by his name as an inventor . this invention is composed of a bracket attached by screws through the wall to the speaker support . the speaker is then wedged between the bar and the support surface in a hole in the wall resulting in the speaker being flush mounted to the wall . speakercraft moved for a summary judgment of invalidity . the district court of california held that the patents were invalid because they were anticipated by an in wall speaker offered by boston acoustics inc. more than a year prior to the application dates of each patent . the u.s. court of appeals held that the patents were not anticipated by the boston acoustics product and reversed the district court s decision and remanded the case for further proceedings . the circuit court affirmed the district court s decision . 31 speakercraft then developed mounting system 540040012 which eliminated the need for the separate bracket used in the sonance design . references edit http www.speakercraft.com contact us a b c d http www.speakercraft.com about % 20us 3 our % 20history a b http www.twice.com article ca374125.html avhub sound & image features learning the craft a b q & a jeremy burkhardt speakercraft ce pro magazine article avhub sound & image features learning the craft sound & vision magazine speakercraft mode multiroom audio system in 2008 speakercraft released the first iphone interface allowing consumers to control whole house audio from their iphones . in wall speakers woofer definition from the merriam webster online dictionary burkhardt industry leaders tell integrators what s next ce pro article 13 invaluable marketing tips ce pro magazine article in wall speakers electronic house expo ehx spring 2005 opening keynote to spotlight industry leaders http www.speakercraft.com products 24 aim8 % 20five http www.speakercraft.com products 80 time % 20five home theater 1003inwall http www.speakercraft.com products 60 products % 20crs8 % 20four http www.speakercraft.com products 429 products % 20waveplane http www.speakercraft.com products 293 in ceiling % 20overview http www.speakercraft.com products 294 in wall % 20overview subwoofer definition from the merriam webster online dictionary a b http www.speakercraft.com products 296 box % 20speaker % 20overview http www.speakercraft.com products 297 outdoor % 20speaker % 20overview http www.speakercraft.com products 301 control % 20systems % 20overview press release ce pro names high impact products of the year ce pro article sound and vision magazine speakercraft mode multiroom audio system speakercraft cnet home audio & video forums high efficiency speaker asylum home theater speakercraft starlet 4 in wall