I recently had a conversation with Kevin Voecks, Acoustic Technologies Manager for Harman Luxury Audio (although I understand his title will soon be changing) and one of the founders of Revel, the luxury speaker brand. We have a bit in common. He grew up in Omaha, and I’m a native of Colorado, next door to the west. We both came of age in the sixties and seventies, and we were both obsessed with music back then. And still are . . .
In those days, listening to records was a treasured pastime, and some of us worked our first jobs specifically to stash enough cash for a new stereo. When we were able to upgrade from one of those one-piece record-player units to a real system with a receiver, turntable and speakers, it was a revelation! We could hear so much more detail in everything, it was like our favorite tunes became new again.
We talked about how most people – and this has nothing to do with affluence – have never heard high-performance audio. I mean, think about that. The CI channel deals with the top 1 – 2 percent of the wealthiest homeowners and most of them have never been shown a performance audio system. It’s just a couple of Sonos speakers and let’s move on to your $2,500 a square foot marble counters. With just a little effort, Kevin and I both think we can do better at assisting homeowners in positioning luxury sound.
This desire to get the most out of the music is still at the heart of what Kevin does at Harman, and the raison d’etre behind the high-performance sound system in his Los Angeles area home. He told me all about a recent dinner party he had hosted, and I was so enthralled I asked him if we could adapt his story as an article for Technology Designer Magazine. He graciously agreed, so look for it in our upcoming Summer issue.
Having the luxury of sound is one of the great things in life.