Audio Advice, Inc.

Audio Advice, Inc.

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Type	Private
Industry	Consumer electronics, Retailing, System Integration
Founded	1978
Headquarters	8621 Glenwood Ave., Raleigh, North Carolina with an additional Charlotte, North Carolina area location at 11409 Carolina Place Parkway, Pineville, North Carolina, USA
Key people	Leon Shaw, Founder and Chairman, Scott Newnam, President and CEO
Products	Home theater, Home automation, Whole House Audio, High-end audio, Lighting Control, Home security systems, Home networking
Website	Audio Advice.com

Audio Advice, Inc. is a specialty consumer electronics retailer in the United States. Audio Advice operates as both a retailer and custom systems installer/integrator with branches in Raleigh, North Carolina and Charlotte, North Carolina.

Areas of Specialty

Audio Advice’s main areas of specialty are:

• Home theater systems and components
• High-end audio systems and components
• Whole House Audio systems
• Home automation and control systems
• Lighting control systems and shading systems
• Home security systems
• Home networking

History

Beginnings

In 1978 Leon Shaw founded Audio Advice in Raleigh, NC with original partner Ira Dorne. Shaw, who graduated from Wake Forest University in 1976 with a degree in economics, spent two years working for Sam Goody before opening the first Audio Advice location at the Brentwood Square shopping center in Raleigh.

High-end Audio

In 1979, Audio Advice opened a high-end audio showroom featuring audio electronics and loudspeakers from Acoustat, Conrad Johnson, Mirage, Series 20, and Denon turntables.

In 1981, the company relocated to Ridgewood Shopping Center in Raleigh. Audio Advice also became a dealer representative of Audio Research in 1981, a relationship that continues to the present day.

Digital Audio and Video

In 1984, Shaw bought out Dorne to become sole owner of Audio Advice. In the mid-1980s digital Compact Disc players were added to the company’s high-performance audio electronics mix.

Lexicon (company) introduced the first Dolby Surround Sound processor in 1988. A Lexicon dealer, Audio Advice became the first store in the Research Triangle area of North Carolina to display a full surround sound system.

In 1989 a full-time custom salesperson was hired to help expand sales of another new product category: Whole House Audio systems.

Home Entertainment and Automation Systems

In 1991, Audio Advice moved to Haverty Square Shopping Center in Raleigh. From 1991-1995, Shaw served as a board member of the Professional Audio Retailers Association.

After 10 years with the company, in 1994 Randy Cribb became a part owner of Audio Advice.

In 1997, Audio Advice began selling the Lutron lighting control system. The company was the first audio/video dealer in the Triangle to show this category. Also in 1997, Audio Advice installed a high-end home theater in a home in the annual fall Home Builders Association of Raleigh-Wake County Parade of Homes. This was the first home theater featured in a Triangle area Parade home, winning an award for best special feature.

In 1998, Audio Advice began selling Phast whole house home automation systems and the Crestron theater system remote controller, becoming the first Triangle audio/video retailer to showcase the home automation category.

Growth and Expansion

In 2000, Audio Advice moved to the company’s current Raleigh location on Glenwood Avenue. The custom-built 15,000-square-foot (1,400 m²) showroom features dedicated high-end audio listening rooms, home theater rooms, flat panel display demos, and demonstrations of lighting control, shading and home automation systems.

In 2004, Leon Shaw was named by Custom Retailer magazine to the C-Business 50 as a “vital influencer” in the home entertainment industry. In the same year, Audio Advice became the Triangle’s oldest locally owned audio/video specialty retailer after NOW Audio/Video was bought by Tweeter, a national retail chain.

On December 7 and 8 of 2005, Audio Advice hosted its first Music Matters event: two evenings devoted exclusively to presenting high-performance reproduction of recorded music. Notable industry presenters included John Atkinson of Stereophile magazine and David Wilson and Peter McGrath of Wilson Audio, Karen Sumner of Transparent Audio, plus representatives from Bowers & Wilkins, Classé, and others.

In 2006 Leon Shaw was elected to the board of the Home Theater Specialists of America.

Audio Advice acquired Premier Security in 2007, creating Audio Advice Security while adding the home security system option to product offerings. A home networking division was also created in 2007. A satellite home theater demonstration showroom was opened by Audio Advice at Kitchen & Bath Galleries on Glenwood Avenue in Raleigh, NC in 2007.

A New Partner

In 2007 Leon Shaw took on a new investor and partner in Scott Newnam, with Shaw becoming Audio Advice Chairman of the Board and Newnam becoming President and CEO. Newnam is a graduate of Davidson College and Harvard Business School who served as CEO and Chairman of the Board of GoldPocket Interactive, an interactive television company, from its founding in 2000 through its sale in 2005 to Tandberg Television.

In 2003, GoldPocket was named one of the “top 20 fastest-growing young technology companies in North America” in the Deloitte and Touche Fast 500 list. In 2004 the company received an Emmy award, and Newnam was named to The Hollywood Reporter’s Top 20 Next Generation list and TelevisionWeek’s Hot List of media executives. In 2005, GoldPocket won the Billboard Television Technology of the Year Award, and Newnam was profiled in FastCompany’s 100th anniversary issue for his innovations in digital media.

Expansion, Recognition and Development

More expansion occurred in 2008 when Audio Advice acquired the Raleigh division of Innovative Systems of Charlotte.

Audio Advice was recognized in 2008 by TWICE (This Week In Consumer Electronics) Magazine, a national electronics industry publication, as a winner of the category Best Audio Video Specialty Retailer in the United States in the magazine's Excellence in Retailing awards.

On November 30 of 2008, Audio Advice hosted a 30th Anniversary Music Matters celebration. Notable presenters in attendance included Michael Fremer of Stereophile magazine, David Gordon of Audio Research, Richard Vandersteen of Vandersteen Audio plus representatives from MartinLogan and McIntosh Laboratory, as well as presenters from Bowers & Wilkins and Classé, Era speakers and Peachtree Audio, plus Kaleidescape and Transparent Audio. Zenph Studios CEO John Q. Walker demonstrated his company's "re-performance" technology with a demonstration of their most recent recording, Piano Starts Here by Art Tatum.

In early 2009 the company established an Audio Advice Metrolina office in the Charlotte, NC area. Also in 2009, Audio Advice debuted a demo room dedicated to B&W Group products, including Bowers & Wilkins loudspeakers, Classé audio and video electronics, and Rotel audio and video electronics. Audio Advice was recognized in Metro magazine's August 2009 issue as the Standing Ovation Award winner in the MetroBravo awards as Best Place to Buy a Home Media System in the Triangle. In December 2009 the company opened a Charlotte-area showroom in Pineville, NC on Carolina Place Parkway, near Carolina Place Mall.

Leon Shaw was named Vice President of Home Theater Specialists of America for 2009 and served as President of the group, renamed Home Technology Specialists of America, in 2010. In November, Shaw was elected as an HTSA board member for 2011. In the June 4, 2010 issue of Triangle Business Journal, Audio Advice was featured as the small business company profile in the Money Matters section of the weekly regional newspaper. In July 2010, Audio Advice was recognized by Metro magazine as the Standing Ovation Award winner in the MetroBravo awards as Best Place to Buy a Home Media System in the Triangle, and the Metro Bravo Award winner as Best Place to Buy a Home Security System. August 2010 saw the company receive additional national recognition with the Retail Excellence Award from Dealerscope magazine.

On November 18 and 19 of 2010, Music Matters events were held in Raleigh and Charlotte on successive evenings. Presenters included John Atkinson, Executive Editor of Stereophile magazine, Sandy Gross of GoldenEar Technology, and Peter McGrath of Wilson Audio Laboratories. Representatives of Audio Research, Ayre Acoustics, Bowers & Wilkins and Classé, Mark Levinson, Niles Audio, Peachtree Audio and Transparent Cable were present along with Zenph Studios Founder and CEO John Q. Walker. On December 8 and 9 the Harman International HPAV Mobile Showcase spent two days at the Charlotte location, followed by two days in Raleigh on December 10 and 11. The mobile showcase demonstrated two channel and home theater systems featuring Mark Levinson, JBL Synthesis, Lexicon, and Revel speakers and components from the Harman High Performance Audio/Video (HPAV) Group.

Audio Advice growth proceeded in 2011 with the acquisition of ZoboTV, a Charlotte-based home technology retailer and integrator. Recognition by Metro magazine readers continued as the company was voted the Triangle area's Best Place to Buy a Home Media System for the sixth consecutive year. Audio Advice President and CEO Scott Newnam was named to Dealerscope magazine's annual Forty Under Forty list of the top home technology influencers under 40 years of age.

October 2011 again saw participation in the Triangle's annual Parade of Homes as well as in the Charlotte March of Dimes Designer Show House. Audio Advice's annual Music Matters events were held November 17 and 18 in Raleigh and Charlotte, respectively. Companies represented included Audio Research, AudioQuest, Ayre Acoustics, Bowers & Wilkins, Classé, GoldenEar Technology, Magnepan, Peachtree Audio, PSB Speakers, Transparent Cable, and Wilson Audio. AV industry pioneers Sandy Gross of GoldenEar Technology and Paul Barton of PSB Speakers were in attendance, and Chris Connacker, founder and chief writer for the website Computer Audiophile was also a special guest presenter.

2012 began with more recognition for Audio Advice President and CEO Scott Newnam, as he was named to Custom Retailer magazine's Young Turks of Custom Electronics for 2012. Reasons given for the honor included leading "design and development of Audio Advice proprietary Signature Series automation system, an industry leader in performance, reliability, and ease of use."

Awards and recognition

Audio Advice has been the recipient of numerous manufacturer and industry awards. Some notable honors the company has received are:

• Audio Video International Magazine "Best of 30 Hi-Fi, Retailer of the Year" – 1993 ; "Top Ten Custom Installation Company" – 1998; "Top Ten Retailer of the Year" – 2002; "Manufacturers Elite Award, Retailer of the Year" – 2001, 2003
• CEPro Magazine "America's Best Installers" – 2000, 2001; "Top 25 Custom Retailers" – 2002, 2003
• HOME BOOK Design Excellence Awards: North Carolina Region: Home Theater Design-Gold, Silver, and Bronze Award Winner 2002
• Metro Magazine Metro Bravo Award for Best Home Systems Retailer (Best Place to Buy a Home Media System) in the Triangle 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011
• Metro Magazine Metro Bravo Award for Best Home Systems Retailer (Best Place to Buy a Home Security System) in the Triangle 2010
• TWICE Magazine Excellence in Retailing Award winner as Best Audio Video Specialty Retailer in the United States 2008
• Dealerscope Magazine National Retail Excellence Award winner for 2010

References

1. Triangle Business Journal / May 17, 2002 / Firm built on sound advice [1]

2. BuilderOnline.com – May 2004 / A Step Up: Audio Advice Puts Together A Mid-Priced System That Custom Builders Use For Spec Homes [2]

3. Custom Retailer / May 2004 / Leon Shaw named to C-Business 50 as a “vital influencer” in the home entertainment industry [3]

4. Fast Company / November 2004 / Fast Forward 2005: Phenom 43 - Scott Newnam [4]

5. Stereophile / February 2006 / Building Bridges by John Atkinson [5]

6. Custom Retailer / February 2007 / Interactive TV Icon Joins Audio Advice [6]

7. Custom Retailer / May 2007 / The Odd Couple [7]

8. Metro Magazine / August 2007 / MetroBravo Award Winner – Best Place to Buy a Home Media System [8]

9. Triangle Business Journal / Oct. 5, 2007 / Audio Advice gets into security [9]

10. BusinessLeader CharlotteBusiness.com / Oct. 8, 2007 / Audio Advice acquires Premier Security, adds leadership

11. SoundstageAV.com: August 2008 / What’s Next: Computer-Based Music Systems Grow by Leaps and Bounds [10]

12. Custom Retailer / Sept. 2008 / Finding the Formula: Interview with Leon Shaw [11]

13. TWICE / Oct. 13, 2008 / Audio Advice Is Chosen As Best Specialty A/V Retailer [12]

14. News & Observer / Nov. 8, 2008 / Business / Kudos [13]

15. News & Observer / Nov. 14, 2008 / A bitter sound at Tweeter [14]

16. Triangle Business Journal / Dec, 9, 2008 / Audio Advice buys Raleigh competitor [15]

17. News & Observer / Dec. 10, 2008 / Audio Advice bucks the trend by expanding [16]

18. TWICE / Dec. 10, 2008 / Audio Advice buys Innovative Systems [17]

19. CEPro.com / Dec. 18, 2008 / Press Release: HTSA Elects New President, VP and Names Board Members [18]

20. "Metro Magazine" / August 2009 / MetroBravo Awards: Best Place to Buy a Home Media System [19]

21. Triangle Business Journal / Jun. 4 2010 / Audio Advice on a Sound Foundation [20]

22. "Metro Magazine" / July 2010 / MetroBravo Awards: Standing Ovation Award as Best Place to Buy a Home Media System; Metro Bravo Award as Best Place to Buy a Home Security System [21]

23. Dealerscope Magazine / August 2010 / Retail Excellence: : Right-Sized Expansion [22]

24. Custom Retailer / December 2010 / HTSA Elects Gullo President [23]

25. Charlotte Business Journal / April 8, 2011 / Raleigh-based Audio Advice buys ZoboTV operations here [24]

26. Metro Magazine / MetroBravo Award Winners Part 2 / Best Place to Buy a Home Media System, Standing Ovation Award (1st Place) [25]

27. Dealerscope Magazine / June 2011 / Dealerscope Selects 2011 40 Under 40 [26]

28. Custom Retailer / January 2012 / Introducing the 2012 Young Turks of CE [27]

External links

• Audio Advice [28]
• Home Technology Specialists of America http://www.htsa.com/