ELECTROSONIC - 50 YEARS AS AN UNDISPUTED HEAVYWEIGHT IN THE AV INDUSTRY

The history of Electrosonic tells a story of a company that pioneered an industry, much like Microsoft, or Apple, pioneered the personal computing industry. Electrosonic has always been at the cutting edge of the industry, as numerous firsts (or ‘amongst the first’ as Bob more modestly expresses it) attest to: the application of automatic dimmers to slide projection (1965); the use of microprocessors in electronic dissolve controls (1976); microprocessor-based room control systems (1982); the development of practical MPEG video room control systems (1995); and the development of low-cost HD video servers (1999).

It’s been a remarkable 50 years for one of the world’s most successful audio-visual companies. Electrosonic was founded on 3 March 1964 and offered “Electronic control and audio systems”.

The story starts in 1961. Bob had just completed his degree in physics at Trinity College, Oxford and was planning a trip to South Africa to see relatives. The holiday was put on hold when he accepted a job offer from Recorded Sound Ltd, where he soon rose to the position of Technical Manager in charge of non-studio activities. When it became clear that Recorded Sound was not the best place for Bob’s burgeoning non-studio activities, he hit on the idea of starting a separate company. At that stage Michael Ray and Denis Naisbitt were working with Bob, and on 3 March 1964, with the blessing of Recorded Sound Ltd, the three of them formed Electrosonic. Robin Prater, who joined from Recorded Sound Ltd, was the company’s first employee.

At first Electrosonic was based at Mike’s home in Watford, before moving to premises in Greenwich Market. These premises lacked the most basic amenities, there weren’t even toilets. One of Electrosonic’s first jobs was to build and supply ‘talking labels’ to the London Zoo. Soon the demand was not just for audio, but for audio-visual too, with trade shows proving a source of steady business. Bob’s book gives a sense of the pioneering spirit of those early days – nerdy engineering types with beards and specs tinkering away in a draughty shed to create an AV solution for a demanding client. They were young, energetic and inventive.

Electrosonic’s automatic light dimmers proved most popular, and led to a staple of regular business. One of their innovations was to apply dimmer technology to slide projection, allowing for a continuous image sequence, using two projectors. This system could be linked to a tape recording, thus creating a slide and sound show: an early version of PowerPoint that became a standard for business presentations.

The late 1960s saw Electrosonic collaborating with Kodak in the UK. One of the first collaborations happened when Eddie Lee of Kodak asked Electrosonic to build a ‘snap change’ unit for two projectors. By fitting solenoids to the internal shutter, Electrosonic was able to create an instant picture change, as opposed to the dissolve change.

Besides equipment sales and rentals, Electrosonic was also called on to build animated displays. A milestone was reached in 1967 when Electrosonic installed the UK pavilion’s entire AV system at the massive Montreal expo, consolidating a reputation for ground-breaking expo installations. In the late 1960’s Electrosonic formed a fruitful association with Ford. For the Brussels Motor Show in 1968 Electrosonic built eight self-contained projection units (each with two Kodak Carousel projectors) and synchronised to a sound track. This successful display led to a call from the German Kodak Company, and Electrosonic was commissioned to do a 20 screen 40 projector in-the-round show. 

 

The histories of large corporations often follow similar trajectories: a small dedicated group of pioneers create new products and change the rules of the game. Such is their success that bigger players buy into the company, and bring investment and corporate management structures to roll out the essence of their offerings on a larger scale. The history of Electrosonic is no different. One photograph that stands out in Bob’s book is of the bearded and bespectacled Electrosonic engineer, Simon Beer, furiously working on a 35mm film projector. The caption tells us he is in Tehran, the capital of Iran. Electrosonic was commissioned to do a massive multi-media show for a new museum there. It was an ongoing project which began in 1976, but soon after it was completed in 1979 the Ayatollah Khomeini, who swept to power in the revolution, shut it down.

 

The Electrosonic headquarters are no longer in the UK, but in Burbank, California – and therein hangs a tale. From the start Electrosonic plied its trade across the world, building client bases and signing distribution agreements in distant lands. In the early 1970s a Minneapolis based firm called Empire Photosound became Electrosonic’s USA distributor. After a buy-out of Photosound, Electrosonic took on Photosound’s hardware division (Photosound Systems), and began operating in the US as Electrosonic Systems Inc. The rising popularity of theme parks in the USA was a boon for Electrosonic Systems, who worked on SeaWorld and Disney’s EPCOT. As demand for audio-visual systems in the entertainment industry rose, it was decided to move closer to the action, and so Electrosonic Leisure systems opened in Burbank California in 1991.

 

In his conclusion to the book Bob splits the past 50 years into two eras: the slide age and the video age. Videowalls arrived in 1987, and Electrosonic upped its manufacturing facilities of PROCUBE videowalls. Jan Smuts International Airport (now OR Tambo) was one of the first airports in the world to use videowalls for advertising. The 72 monitor display, installed in 1989, was based on Electrosonic’s PICBLOC system.  While Electrosonic has had a presence in South Africa (through distribution channels) since the 1960s, now the common name is only an echo of a past relationship. When Lourie Coetzee and Bruce Genricks set up Electrosonic SA in September 1991 they were distributors of Electrosonic’s products. But Electrosonic SA acquired other product lines, and Electrosonic ceased manufacturing products, and so the business relationship ended, but friendships have endured. The business models for the two companies have also diverged. Electrosonic focusses on systems integration, while Electrosonic SA supports dealers in their systems integration work. 

 

One of the major turns in the Electrosonic story took place in 1986 when the Finnish lighting company, Helvar, became a minority shareholder of Electrosonic. Helvar’s stake grew over the years, and in 1991 the two companies merged to become Helvar Electrosonic. In 1998 they were separated as distinct businesses, with Helvar taking charge of all Electrosonic’s lighting operations, and Electrosonic focussing on AV systems products and services.

 

By 2008 Electrosonic faced a decision around the products part of its business. Apart from manufacturing and selling products, it also offered services in the form of engineered solutions. But dwindling product sales forced management to make a call on this side of its business. Electrosonic was by now a potent force in systems integration, and other systems integrators did not want to buy from a competitor. So, in 2008, the manufacturing part of Electrosonic was sold to Extron Electronics.

 

Today Electrosonic serves three market sectors: Entertainment, which includes museums, theme parks and visitor centres; Corporates; and Control Rooms, with the US Government in this sector. Electrosonic has a staff of more than 400 people and principal offices in the USA, the UK, Sweden, China and the United Arab Emirates. A statement on the Electrosonic website neatly sums up the offering: “Electrosonic is a worldwide audio-visual company with extensive experience in designing, project managing, engineering and supporting AV systems and products.”

 

Bob Simpson, and all those who dedicated so much to Electrosonic, can look back with pride to their baby who has grown into a giant. Electrosonic is one of the world’s biggest AV systems integration companies, and certainly the oldest. Robert S. Simpson was there from the start, and the book he wrote for Electrosonic is a fantastic record of the emergence of a brand new industry. Bob is an AV legend in his own time, and enjoys worldwide respect for fifty years of service to the industry. Some of his admirers may even reprise that famous Ali boast when talking of his contribution: “He’s the greatest!”