Amp/Sub Markets Get New Brands
By Amy Gilroy -- TWICE, 2/12/2001
LAS VEGAS -Two new brands, Genesis and Digital Audio, were launched at CES last month to target the amplifier and/or subwoofer markets.
Genesis is bringing from England to the United States a super-high-end car amplifier line through distributor Select Products, Miramar, N.J. Selling amplifiers at prices as high as $4,000, the company is targeting a selective dealer base of 50 specialists for the first year.
Select Products president Robert Garza said the line is hand assembled in England "using the best parts money can buy." While a dozen specialists have imported Genesis speakers directly from England, this is the first time the company is establishing a U.S. distributor and offering in this country full technical support, repair, inventory and advertising, said Garza.
The Genesis line includes the Stereo 60, a 60-watt per channel amplifier at a suggested retail price of $379, as well as the Stereo 100 (100 watts), Dual Mono (400 watts), Compact 4 (60 x 4 watts), 4 Channel (100 x 4 watts) and the Monoblock (2,500 watts). In addition, the line offers a five-channel amplifier and a six-channel 5.1 DVD amplifier designed for multimedia systems.
The Monoblock amplifier, with a suggested retail price of $2,195, includes a three-piece circuit board with three independent boards (rather than layers) for power supply, input circuitry and output circuitry. "This allows them to beef up certain parts of the amp that need it," said Garza. "For example, the power supply gets thicker copper."
The six-channel 5.1 amplifier has a total power output of 3,600 watts at $4,000, and a new Dual Monoblock amplifier (with two monoblocks in one chassis), also has a suggested retail price of approximately $4,000.
Garza noted that Genesis will custom engrave either the store name or the consumer's name on the amplifier nameplate.
Digital Audio, distributed by M & M Merchandising, Fort Worth, Texas, recently began delivering a line of amplifiers and speakers manufactured by audio-bahn but hitting lower price points. According to sales and marketing VP Chuck Franklin, "We saw the need for another line that is lower in price than Audio-bahn, with appealing cosmetics, but with the same manufacturing integrity."
The Digital Audio line includes six high-current amplifiers and 10 high-performance amplifiers, as well 23 subwoofers (including compression piston, extreme excursion and competition excursion). The product sports red cone woofers, woofer boxes in red and black, and carpeted boxes in maroon with chrome ports.
Each high-current amplifier has a PWM MOSFET power supply and dual thermally controlled cooling fans; four-way protection circuitry; and a chrome-plate finish with a red high-gloss heat sink. All of the amplifiers are 1-ohm mono.
Digital Audio high-current amplifiers range in price from $350 to $750, while high-performance amplifiers span from $199 to $519. Subwoofers are priced between $49 and $499.
Among the subwoofers is the DABB102 10-inch, dual-angle sealed-bass system designed for competition. It handles 600 watts RMS, with a frequency response of 25-1kHz with 98dB efficiency. Suggested retail price is $319.
