Latest / CE Pro Podcast / Inside Buzz Ep. 16: Clayton Ginn of Monitor Audio on High‑Performance Sound & Modern Applications

Transcript

Inside Buzz Ep. 16: Clayton Ginn of Monitor Audio on High‑Performance Sound & Modern Applications · CE Pro Podcast

• 0:02
  SPEAKER_00: My name is Clayton.
• 0:04
  SPEAKER_00: I'm from Monitor Audio North America.
• 0:07
  SPEAKER_00: Our headquarters are just east of Toronto.
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_00: And we're the North American distributor of Monitor Audio.
• 0:15
  SPEAKER_01: Talk to me about CD.
• 0:17
  SPEAKER_01: We're here at in Denver, CD at Expo 2025.
• 0:21
  SPEAKER_01: Talk to me about this show.
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_01: What does this show mean for the company?
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_00: It means a lot.
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_00: You know, we see a lot of familiar faces, a lot of new faces.
• 0:31
  SPEAKER_00: It's a great way to build relationships and show off really what our brand has to offer.
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_00: We got essentially our entire product line up there in booth number 3333.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_00: And it's a great way to show everyone what our brand's really all about.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_01: What is the brand all about?
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_00: Well, it's about premium performance, one-stop shop for home audio.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_00: We've got indoor, outdoor, home theater specific, uh, really anything you might need.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_01: Let's go granular with that because, and I ask, because the industry is is changing rapidly.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_01: From your perspective, uh, and and by the way, just out of curiosity, who is your primary client?
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_01: Like here, it's gonna be installers, integrators, maybe some architects.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so we're about 50-50.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_00: We uh we have a luxury loudspeaker box lineup, and the good thing is we also have uh full architectural lineup, and all of our technology from our box speakers is trickled down into our architectural lineup.
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_00: So our tier three best architectural speakers have the same driver technology as our platinum box speakers, so we really are marketing to everyone.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_00: We we work with guys who don't have a retail shop, and we work with guys who have a big retail shop with our best speakers on the floor.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_00: So we are we're really a one-stop shop.
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_01: And talk to me about the manufacturing.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_01: Where are you made?
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_00: So our headquarters are in uh London, UK.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_00: So most of all of our speakers are designed and engineered there, and our top-notch speakers are all built there, handmade, and we also have a facility over in China which is meticulously managed and uh employed by us, and uh with that we're able to cut the costs and without sacrificing any of the quality.
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, this may sound like a silly question, and it probably is.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_01: Because entertainment has changed so dramatically over the years, and and it's interesting too, because in a lot of cases it's it's it's retro with the resurgence of vinyl, for example.
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_01: But the beauty about uh vinyl is you can hear on an original recording uh the things that digital processing removes, which is what a lot of audiophiles absolutely love.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm curious uh because there's been sort of this refocus on the quality level of entertainment, what are your clients, and I'm talking about down to the homeowner, what are the client levels?
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_01: What are they asking for from you through product that maybe they weren't asking for three, four, five years ago?
• 3:25
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's a good question.
• 3:27
  SPEAKER_00: Uh there's a lot of different solutions and things that our clients are looking for.
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_00: The most important thing is being able to reproduce the music how the artist intended it.
• 3:37
  SPEAKER_00: So when they're in there recording it, we want our speakers to produce the sound the exact way the artist intended it.
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_00: And that's what we've been doing for over 50 years.
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_00: So Monitor Audio came around in 1972, and we're actually one of the pioneers of metal cone drivers due to the super particular sound that it makes and uh how it recreates the music so great.
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and I assume this this is also in practice home theater, that sort of thing.
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, for sure.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_00: We have a home theater specific line called the Synergy Series.
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_00: It's THX ultra certified, which means it's professional grade.
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_00: And uh these can be installed in in the wall, on the wall, or freestanding.
• 4:21
  SPEAKER_00: So there's a lot of different options.
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_01: Are you seeing anything new in the way of application?
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, in the way of applications, we're always upgrading and coming out with new products.
• 4:33
  SPEAKER_00: For example, we just refreshed our bronze lineup, which is our our introduction to high-end audio.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_00: We just came out with the seventh generation this past summer, made a lot of new improvements over the sixth generation.
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_00: Next year we'll be refreshing the silver series, and uh we've got some new in-wall subwoofers coming out next year, more in-sealing speakers as well.
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_00: So we're really trying to create a solution for everything possible you could think of.
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_01: When it comes to non-traditional applications, so you've got your you've got your indoor, you've got your outdoor.
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_01: What else is new?
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_01: And and I ask because talking to a designer recently, it was the funniest thing.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_01: They basically, because the homeowner spent so much time in his garage that he wanted an entertainment experience in the garage as well.
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_01: So you have multiple factors, you know, that it can freeze depending on the the area, but they put in massive screen, surround sound, inc incredible, right?
• 5:49
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_01: But I would think too that there are problems with that or challenges at least, sawdust, particulates, weather, that sort of thing.
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_01: What else or or in-shower entertainment now?
• 6:01
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_01: Um, what are what are you finding that is just kind of turning things upside down?
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_00: So we actually came out with our new climate third generation speaker within the last year, and this has some really neat features which are pretty much not seen at all in the industry, including which is a pressure release valve.
• 6:21
  SPEAKER_00: So essentially, when there is pressure temperature changes, sun on the outdoor speaker, it'll cause pressure buildup in the cabinet, and then the driver can't move freely.
• 6:31
  SPEAKER_00: With this pressure release valve, it will automatically detect if there's too much pressure in the cabinet, and it will release that pressure.
• 6:39
  SPEAKER_00: And it will still maintain our IP66 rating, so you can spray it down with a fire hose, it'll last you a very long time out in the elements.
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, it's essentially made to last a lifetime, no matter what the temperature is or what the elements are, sawdust, anything like that, it won't it won't penetrate the cabinet.
• 6:58
  SPEAKER_01: Awesome.
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_01: Love that.
• 7:00
  SPEAKER_01: Thanks for doing this.
• 7:01
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, of course.
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks for thank you very much for having me.
• 7:04
  SPEAKER_00: And um, yeah, if anyone's looking to learn more about the brand, you can visit our website www.monitoraudio.com