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Success a sweet sound for Counterpoint Electronics
The San Diego Union -Tribune; San Diego, Calif.; May 24, 1994; DIANE
LINDQUIST;
Abstract:
Audiophiles in Japan, Hong Kong and China are the biggest buyers of the
company's line of
preamplifiers, amplifiers, speakers and other high fidelity equipment.
The products also do well inEurope and Mexico. Indeed, export purchases
account for 70 percent of Carlsbad-based Counterpoint's $10 million in
annual sales.
Laura Hendershot, the company's chief executive, says most Americans
aren't in tune with the firm's high quality --or willing to pay its
corresponding high costs, which range from $795 for speakers or a power
amplifier to $7,500 for preamplifiers.
Because being engulfed by quality sound is an essential part of the home
theater experience,consumers seem more willing to pay big money for
audio equipment --even Counterpoint's hefty $15,000 price tag.
Company: Counterpoint Electronic Systems Inc. { } Business: Designs and
manufactures high fidelity audio equipment { } CEO: Laura Hendershot { }
Headquarters: 2281 Las Palmas Drive, Carlsbad, CA 92009 { } Employees:
60 { } 1993 revenues: $10 million
Counterpoint Electronic Systems' home-stereo equipment strikes far
sweeter notes outside the United States.
Audiophiles in Japan, Hong Kong and China are the biggest buyers of the
company's line of
preamplifiers, amplifiers, speakers and other high fidelity equipment.
The products also do well in
Europe and Mexico. Indeed, purchases abroad account for 70 percent of
Carlsbad-based Counterpoint's
$10 million in annual sales.
Laura Hendershot, the company's chief executive, says most Americans
aren't in tune with the firm's
high quality --or willing to pay its corresponding high costs, which
range from $795 for speakers or a
power amplifier to $7,500 for preamplifiers.
"They want low, low prices. Unfortunately, they've been convinced
there's no reason to spend more
than $300 on a hi-fl," she said.
But a compelling irony occurs in the worldwide home-stereo market.
The U.S. market is largely a discount market dominated by Asian
companies. The high-encl exists
mainly outside the United States and is almost exclusively the domain of
American companies.
Counterpoint has competed well in this segment where contemporary
designs, advanced technology
combine with high aesthetic appeal and a remarkable level of finish.
But now, the company expects to significantly boost its domestic sales,
thanks to the emergence of in-
house cinema as one of the next generations of home entertainment.
Because being engulfed by quality sound is an essential part of the home
theater experience,
consumers seem more willing to pay big money for audio equipment --even
Counterpoint's hefty
$15,000 price tag.
07/09/2001
Its surround-sound system of audio components and seven speakers
operated by a single remote
control is certified to the standards of the Lucas THX system heard in
movie theaters.
"It's a smart move. It's one of the fields showing the greatest growth,"
said Ivan Berger, technical editor
of Audio magazine.
Even other multimedia possibilities materializing on the information
superhighway, whatever direction
they take, can well be expected to require a quality audio system, he
said.
Counterpoint Electronics is one of the oldest of hundreds of audio
companies scattered throughout the
United States.
The company was started in 1977 in Beverly Hills by hobbyists who
thought high fidelity equipment,
although measuring better in electronic tests, wasn't sounding better.
Operating out of a closet, they went back to using vacuum tubes, which
according to the
preponderance of opinion give a sweeter, more mellow sound in the higher
registers.
The firm did about $30,000 in sales until Hendershot and her two
partners bought the company in
1982 and moved operations to San Diego County. "We immediately started
doing $30,000 a month
" she said.
All admit to being music nuts.
"That's how we got in the business," Hendershot said.
Richard Riccio is chief operating officer. Michael Elliott is the
designer. Each owns about a third of the company. A year and a half ago,
they relocated to their current 42,000 square-foot building in an office
park near Palomar Airport. The facility contains five sound rooms and a
home cinema mock-up for showing and testing their equipment.
Manufacturing and engineering have been kept closely linked so products
can be constantly improved
and upgraded, Hendershot said. The partners have created four operating
divisions that make their own
transformers and chassis and perform their own silk screening as well as
assemble the equipment.
"We just couldn't get the quality we needed on time. Suppliers were
oriented more toward industrial
markets rather than consumer markets which have the emphasis we needed
on quality," Hendershot
said.
In all four divisions, Counterpoint employs a work force of 60, many
semi-skilled. All are offered an
employee-stock ownership program to encourage longevity and motivation.
Since its move to San Diego County, the partners have continued to put
an even greater emphasis on
design. Vacuum tubes and solid state are combined in amplifier
construction to bring out the best of
treble and bass. Chassis are not made of plastic, but copper-plated
steel. Interiors are devoid of
spaghetti-like masses of wires, and knobs are reduced to the few
essential controls necessary to affect
sound. They now produce a line of24 high-fidelity products that have won
15 design awards, including
the Hi-Fi Grand Prix Award in Japan.
Their equipment is well respected. I would stop short of saying
revered," said Berger.
QUICK AUDIT
{ } Company: Counterpoint Electronic Systems Inc. { } Business: Designs
and manufactures high
fidelity audio equipment { } CEO: Laura Hendershot { } Headquarters:
2281 Las Palmas Drive,
Carlsbad, CA 92009 { } Employees: 60 { } 1993 revenues: $10 million
[Illustration ]
I PIC II CHART; Caption 1 Booming business Laura Hendershot (right),
chief executive officer of Counterpoint Electronics Systems, a
Carlsbad-based maker
of stereo equipment, listens to a compact disc in one of the company's
sound rooms as Rich Riccio, vice president and marketing director,
cranks up the volume
2 QUICK AUDIT; Credit" Union Tribune / CHARLIE NEUMAN
Credit: Staff Writer
Sub Title: [UNION TRIBUNE, 1,2,3,4,5,6, 7,8,9 Edition]
Column Name: THE ENTREPRENEURS
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction
or distribution is prohibited without permission.
07/09/2001
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