I’ve been a music fan forever. Live music – man, I could tell you about some unbelievable shows I’ve seen! 8-Track, cassette, reel-to-reel, turntable, CD – no matter the format, there’s nothing better than great music. And great sound. I love great sound.
My friend Franklin Karp wrote a cool article last year about setting up his first hi-fi system in many a moon. He’d been in the 5.1 world and decided to get back to 2-channel. He was an inspiration to many of us who had forgotten the joy of listening to a nice rig in any of the many lossless formats on the market. Good sound just feels good. There’s no other way to describe it. It just feels good on your body and in your head.
In my last article, I wrote about my prediction of the coming Performance Audio Renaissance. So following up, here are two critical skillsets we all need to get back to so we can truly demonstrate how great performance audio is in our daily lives:
Number One. The Demo. We have to get back to exposing people to the ‘feel’ of good sound. And just like 4K, you have to experience it to believe it. Manufacturers – you have to put the best demo plans out there so dealers can afford to set up a proper demo. Dealers – you have to commit to the demo. Every client, every time. Our industry media – yes, the media plays a role. Let’s start seeing some columns about performance audio. Not just the top selling models or the trendiest wireless product. Let’s engage consumers and demonstrate that audio plays as critical a role in the smart home as lighting, energy management, networks, and control. And makes video pop off the screen!
Number Two. Highlight the Good Stuff. I think dealers should be putting more of a focus on performance audio in their overall pitch to the client. Look, most if not all of the very top brands in performance audio have tightly controlled distribution. Limited dealers. No online sales. If you’re one of the limited dealers, I’d be touting my performance audio division because the client isn’t going to be able to go just anywhere to get that level of performance. If the top dealers talk about the top performance audio products and make it important, then clients will consider it important. They will listen. And they’ll thank you in the long run for setting them straight.
So, just a couple thoughts. I don’t know it all. But I think there is a real thirst for performance audio and with the speed of the internet and upgrades to streaming capabilities, lossless audio will become the preferred medium across all platforms. And that’s where performance audio will shine, along with your profitability.
