Study Hall

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50 And Forward: Five Decades Of Heritage At QSC With A Steady Gaze On The Future

Currently celebrating its 50th anniversary, business has never been better at QSC, a tribute to the dynamic organization’s adherence to the original principles of its founders: the necessity of constant innovation, the anticipation of trends in both technologies and markets, and above all else, putting customers first.

Those mantras are well encapsulated in the anniversary milestone theme, “50 Years and Forward,” paying tribute to a rich, celebrated history while at the same time pointing to a very bright future.

A professional audio heritage that began with the development of power amplifiers has grown to encompass high-performance professional audio, video and control (AV&C) products, including loudspeakers, digital mixers, cinema systems, the Q-SYS integrated processing and networking platform, and of course, industry-leading power amplifiers.

The company has long been a trailblazer in product design and manufacturing.

Most recently, the line has expanded even further with the introduction of a portfolio of Premium Business Music Solutions, including multi-zone mixers, wall controllers, configurable multi-channel amplifiers, SUB/SAT loudspeakers, as well as accompanying installation and management apps for easy configuration and system management.

This broad range of technologies is headquartered at an 81,000-square-foot facility in Costa Mesa, CA that demonstrates why the company has long been known as a trailblazer in product development and manufacturing.

Utilizing a complement of demand planning, parts procurement, operations and logistics, computer-controlled precision assembly, and rigorous testing and control, the facility is designed with build-to-order flexibility, giving QSC the unique ability to respond to customer needs while keeping both parts and finished goods inventory at well-maintained levels.

The company also has product development and engineering offices in San Luis Obispo, CA and Boulder as well as overseas. Additional manufacturing is handled in San Luis Obispo and Tecate, Mexico, while corporate offices are located in London, Sinsheim, Germany, Bangalore, India, and Hong Kong.

More than 550 people are employed globally, and they’re rewarded with an exceptional benefits package, enhancing the company’s ability to attract and maintain top talent. It’s a reason that QSC is now a seven-time recipient of the Orange County Register’s “Best Place to Work” award.

“From its beginnings, QSC has always maintained the strong belief that open communication is the foundation of effective teamwork,” explains company CEO and president Joe Pham.

“We’re so fortunate to have extremely talented and passionate people who come together as working teams to learn, collaborate, innovate and win together. QSC has an open, casual and fun work environment where everyone has a voice, and people are genuinely excited to bring forth their best and let their talent shine.

“The management team puts our open communication culture into practice through transparency, intellectual honestly and extending trust – both internally, and with our partners and customers,” he continues. “We encourage feedback and listen to employees on where we are doing great, and where we need to do better. QSC invests in training and developing our managers to create, lead and sustain great teams where employees care about each other and the overall success of the team, which ultimately drives our success as a company. Authentic engagement, effective collaboration, and winning as a team is what successfully fuels innovation at QSC.”

QSC recently racked up the sale of the 1 millionth K Family loudspeaker.

Pham sees the introduction of K Series loudspeakers almost a decade ago as a significant milestone – an example of the company’s decidedly inclusive culture fueling growth physically, geographically and technologically.

“Where learning, growing, failing and succeeding as a team led to our ultimate success in the market,” he notes. “We struggled with several product introductions, learning and refining, until we developed the first K Series loudspeaker. By using the latest class D and DSP technology available, combined with a new visual design aesthetic, and a comprehensive set of features manufactured for reliability that has come to define our brand, we felt as a team and as a company, we’d developed a new standard for powered loudspeakers.”

In fact, earlier this year the company marked the sale of the 1 millionth K Family unit, and the line continues to grow with the recent introduction of the K.2 Series as well as the KS212C powered cardioid and KS112 compact powered subwoofers.

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Celebrating over 50 years of audio excellence worldwide, Audio-Technica is a leading innovator in transducer technology, renowned for the design and manufacture of microphones, wireless microphones, headphones, mixers, and electronics for the audio industry.