A few months ago back in Dallas, the N.H.-based manufacturer Russound previewed its XStream line of products for its American dealer base. In a few weeks at the popular ISE Show in Amsterdam the company plans to follow its American XStream debut by showing the line of products to its European dealers.
The line includes the XSource Streaming Audio Player and the XZone4 four-stream four-zone audio player. Looking back the company says ISE 2016 marks its 12th year of participation in the event.
“Russound was there at the first ISE in 2004, and we've seen it grow from a fledgling, reigonal event to one of the must attend shows in the custom market,” says Charlie Porritt, CEO, Russound. “For us the two most important events on our calendar are CEDIA and ISE. These two shows have the greatest impact on our brand an dour customers.”
Looking back Porritt recalls that initially the company borrowed a booth from its French distributor, and reflecting the popularity of the show now Russound now exhibits in its own booth to best communicate with the show's attendees.
Explaining the company's plans for the 2016 show Porritt points out that another point of emphasis beyond the Xtream products will be control and integration with third-party drivers.
Porritt notes the company's targeted dealer program—Russound Certified Installer (RCI)—currently boasts 5,000 members worldwide, including more than 1,600 outside of North America. The RCI program he says is designed to train dealers and provide protection from the Internet pricing programs to allow dealers to profitably offer Russound solutions like the XStream series whether they are located in the U.S. or abroad.
“These products need Russound Certified installers. This keeps our products in a controlled channel,” he says. “As manufacturers continue to support ISE the amount of residential companies will grow [as exhibitors]. Internet sales hurt international sales because of the duties involved with selling products overseas. RCI has been important in keeping things off the Internet.”
Providing a hint of what dealers can expect from the company in the near future Porritt hints that installers could see some light commercial/commercial products from Russound to address the growing migration of residential dealers into the commercial industry.
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