i3 - March/April 2017 - 11

Q

Tech
finding a great upside opportunity for our
industry inaugurating CES Asia and building
it the way that they have.

Why should
a company get
involved at CTA?
A CTA has been one of

the most transformational experiences for
me professionally. CTA creates so many
incredible opportunities. It's almost like
having a think tank at your disposal.
The networking is phenomenal and smalland medium-size companies are welcome
at the table. At MyerEmco as a smaller
company, I met CEOs of huge multi-national
companies and had the benefit of their
insights but also could share my thoughts.
It's an extremely welcoming organization
that means it when it says it's a big tent.

Q What is the value of bringing retailers

and manufacturers together?
A I was the first retailer to be chairman of
the association, which is a great honor for
me. One of the core strengths of CTA is its
inclusiveness. CT products, technology
pipelines, content, automotive, mobile - are
part of a giant connected technology world.
But retail is the piece that connects all of it.
And retail is the part of the equation that
is the most agnostic about which thing
should win. Retailers tend to focus on what
are the best opportunities to engage their
markets and customers.

Q What did you learn as chairman?
A Being the chairman of an executive board

where you have so many phenomenal
industry leaders, I found the important thing
is to just facilitate the conversation and great
ideas will win. I learned that the walls you
think you see are not really there between
different technology categories and the walls
that you think impede you from engaging
a market in a certain way aren't there either -
instead of walls, there are opportunities.

Q

Ultra series
floorstanding speaker

Q Why should a high-end audio
company be at CES?
A We are not a giant company, but CES has
created more opportunities for us to meet
potential customers, high-level industry
executives and make business relationships,
than any other event. Those days in Las Vegas
are easily the most action-packed that we
have all year in terms of press, business
development meetings and high-level
networking. It always blows my mind the
number of international customer and press
opportunities we get at CES - more than any
other event. The press alone is worth it.
Q What are your thoughts on CES Asia?
A I am very optimistic about CES Asia.

This is a huge opportunity for U.S. companies
to engage in some vital markets. China is
SVS' number one market outside of the U.S.
All of Asia Pacific is a vital region and CES
Asia is a phenomenal facilitator to engage
with that world. CTA did a phenomenal job

Q What technologies are you
most excited about?
A I think there is going to be a renaissance
of home technology. The Internet of Things
is going to facilitate that and so will 4K
and high-resolution audio. Millennials are
buying their first homes and are interested
in enhancing their living space with home
technology. The first HDTVs created that
single best viewing experience in the house
that brought other home technologies along
with it. We are definitely seeing that happen
with 4K too - it is predominately a big screen
experience. You have this 50-inch plus TV
and it's just begging to be enhanced in terms
of its sound quality. Once you do that you
have truly created a room in your house
where you can suspend disbelief and actually
feel like what is going on onscreen is really
happening in the room with you.
Q What worries you?
A I worry about an America that isolates

itself from the world. I am speaking about
America as a participant in the global marketplace that is a huge source of strength
for American companies and the American
worker. I hope that we don't lose our
standing as an important part of the global
marketplace. A huge part of our business is
selling what we build, brand and design in
the U.S. worldwide. For U.S. companies to be
successful, the best thing that they can ask
for from government is an open lane to do
that. I worry about a situation where trade
hostilities could interfere with that open lane.

Prime
Series
speaker
system

What makes
SVS speakers
special?

A The first thing when
you think of SVS is that our products
sound amazing and they are very
affordable relative to the performance
that you get. I have painted a picture
of us being a disruptive brand but the

reality is we are also embraced by the
audiophile community. Our vision for
our products is that typically the audiophile needs to choose between what
is in their budget and a speaker that is
refined and accurate and create what
we call a soundstage where you can
visually almost see where the sound is
coming from. But you may be forced in
your price range to give up on dynamics, bass and low-frequency extension

type of impact. We try to provide a total
experience with our products where you
can have your cake and eat it too. We are
refined, accurate and musical but we
also are fun, exciting and impactful and
have great low-frequencies. The end
result for the listener is that they sound
great with music and they sound very
believable with movies - you can get
both experiences and that is an important hallmark of SVS. ■
MARCH/APRIL 2017

11
http://www.ces.tech http://www.cesasia.cn
i3 - March/April 2017

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of i3 - March/April 2017
