AUDIO DESIGN ASSOCIATES: A CORPORATE BACKGROUND
Audio Design Associates Sets The Standard In High Definition Home Theater
And MultiRoom/MultiSource Systems
Audio Design Associates (ADA) was incorporated in May of 1977 by Peter
T. McKean and Albert G. Langella to provide professional quality, multiroom electronics for the everyday user. Both McKean and Langella had been actively involved in providing customdesigned multiroom entertainment systems for a variety of clients throughout the 1970s.
ADA was established to develop a more consistent and reliable resource for two specific types of clients:
· Those who wanted music from a single source to be available in every
room of their home; and
· Those who wanted to be able to simultaneously listen to different
sources in different rooms of their home.
From these seemingly simple customer profiles, ADA has grown to become
the world leader in custominstalled multiroom systems and advanced
home theater components.
Customization has been an integral part of the ADA success story. The
company was one of the first consumer electronics firms to realize that being successful in creating custominstalled systems requires addressing a broad range of unique customer requirements. These include specifying finishes to match a particular
decor, developing remote control keypads with enhanced functionality and
remaining at the forefront of important new emerging technologies.
ADA established the foundation for its acclaimed multiroom system
architecture in the late 1970s with the introduction of its model FM600. At a time when most FM tuners featured a cumbersome rotary analog design, the FM600 incorporated an easytoread digital readout and could scan stations preset into memory from any room's keypad.
From its earliest years, what really set ADA components in a class by themselves was the company's revolutionary system architecture. Much like the modular design found inside the typical PC, this simple 'building block' approach makes it possible to incorporate new technologies as they become available.
ADA CORPORATE BACKGROUND, Page 2.
ADA's first product, System 10, was a singlesource, multiroom system
providing users with the ability to select one of two components in designated rooms
without having to turn on the entire system at once. Introduced in 1977, System 56 was the company's first multisource, multiroom system. It was capable of playing as many as six audio components independently in as many as 30 rooms. ADA still supports and
maintains an inventory of these early systems, since their modular bus design enables their owners to easily expand into new zones and system sources as their needs or interests change. Today, the company's stateoftheart Omega System can access as many as 256 separate zones.
In the early 1980s, ADA expanded its production facilities and moved into its current manufacturing plant in White Plains, New York. In addition to handbuilding each and every component that bears the ADA name, the company's White Plains operation also includes a comprehensive metal shop to handle both special order finishes and chassis fabrication.
ADA's groundbreaking technology and uncompromising products have been
featured in numerous leading publications, including Town & Country, Vogue, Interior Design, GQ and the Wall Street Journal. Their products consistently garner lavish praise from respected critics and reviewers.
In recognition of his pioneering work in the field of custom system design and installation, in 1990 ADA cofounder Albert G. Langella was honored by the Custom Electronics Design & Installation Association (CEDIA) with that organization's
firstever "Lifetime Achievement Award".
In recent years, ADA has begun offering a series of sophisticated components specifically geared towards the recreation of film soundtracks in the home. These home theater milestones have included the most powerful THXcertified multichannel power amplifier ever built, the world's first DTS (Digital Theater Systems) home decoder and the world's first Dolby Digital (AC3) decoder.
ADA's engineering philosophy and orientation was aptly summed up recently by Albert G. Langella, the company's President, CEO and Chief Design Engineer, when he noted, "System engineering is the core to ADA's approach to creating solutions for today's technologically advanced homes. While we will continue our efforts to continually make our products more affordable, ADA will always deliver unparalleled performance and flexibility."
Richard D. Stoerger, ADA’s Vice President and COO explains that the companies overall focus in many ways has little to do with product. “At Audio Design Associates, we don’t manufacture components, we build reputation. It is our job to take reputation off of the shelf each morning, polish it up, and return it to the mantel at the end of each day.” It is the combination of both Langella’s vision and Stoerger’s focus that have permitted ADA to maintain its position as the undisputed leader in custom installation and home theater technologies.
# # #