Parasound Under New Ownership

Bay Area-based Parasound, known for reasonably priced audio components, especially those designed by John Curl, is under new ownership. The new owner, David Sheriff, an entrepreneur who specializes in product growth and supply chain management, has pledged to maintain Parasound's reputation for excellence while shepherding the company to "take the next step."

In a conversation with Stereophile, Sheriff, previous Parasound owner Richard Schram, and Jeanie Schram, Richard's life partner, discussed the reasons for the shift and Sheriff's plans for the company.

"At 76, it's time to retire," Schram told Stereophile. "I've accomplished what I wanted to do, and there are other things I want to do now. All I've ever been attached to since I was about 15 years old is bringing music into people's homes. The name, the brand, and the people I worked with to build Parasound deserve an opportunity to take the next step." The transfer of ownership occurred on December 8.

Photo of Richard Schram "We were blessed that David found us and that we found him. I didn't want to get subsumed by some of the big companies that gather companies and then get off course. I think Parasound is going to be very well cared for. That's what I wanted more than anything else. David gets it. He has the resources and abilities that we never had to raise Parasound to the next tier of quality. This is the best possible transition I could have imagined. It was worth waiting for. I spoke with John Curl a few nights ago, and he's thrilled by the opportunities."

Jeanie explained that one of Richard's criteria was to find someone who would preserve his legacy. After 14 years building Pacific Stereo into the world's largest hi-fi retail chain and developing four house brands, he spent 42 years making Parasound into a world-renowned and widely respected audio brand. That's quite a legacy to preserve.

In a press release, Schram said, "When I look at all we have accomplished at Parasound over four decades. I am proud that we have stayed true to our mission statement, 'Integrity Endures,' and our day-to-day goal of providing affordable high-fidelity sound to the critical listener. I am grateful for the dedication of current and former staff, plus the magic touch of our legendary circuit designer, John Curl, which made all this possible. Through their efforts, we have earned an enviable reputation with audio enthusiasts and the audio press corps, with many awards and consistent high placement in recommended product lists. Less outwardly visible is our continuing commitment to superb pre- and post-sale support for dealers and customers alike as well as our excellent customer service and competent in-house product repair. More common are users who've been using the same Parasound amp for 10 or 20 years without a glitch. I’m also proud that our products have been chosen by notable recording engineers as reference components in the production of some legendary movies and music recordings."

Photo of David Sheriff This is Sheriff's sixth company over a 30-year history of running manufacturing and distribution companies and working as a consultant. He has helped more than 500 U.S. manufacturers improve their businesses by streamlining processes, reducing supply-chain risks, and substantially reducing time to market. Sheriff's main company, which he sold in 2021, is a consulting company with more than 1000 customers, many of which are in audio or audio-related industries.

"I got to understand some of audio's challenges, expectations, and opportunities," Sheriff explained. "After I sold my main company, I realized that retirement was not for me. So, I put together a requirement book. I wanted a company with a well-engineered product that was on the California coast, owned by a retiring owner who had spent their life building a brand with tremendous brand integrity, and that could benefit from my skills in supply chain and sales channels. Parasound was a perfect fit for me. One of my other companies was an overseas distributor, so I have experience with supply-chain issues. I was excited by what my skills and capital could bring."

"David has a vision of the future that will build on our past," Richard Schram added. "There is no limit for this. I wanted to build a company with a foundation that was so strong that somebody could build a 100-story skyscraper on top of it. David can do that. He can reach younger people who don't own homes, don't want to own homes, but still love music. If someone has asked me to write down exactly who I wanted to take Parasound from here, it would be David."

Sheriff considers many of Parasound's Curl-inspired designs "phenomenal and timeless." One of his goals is to explore how to bring new, exciting products to Parasound's core audience while expanding the brand. Another is to understand where the market is going and put out products that will remain relevant in the future.

"I think there are tremendously more audiophiles in the world than [who] acknowledge it, because they don't yet know who they are," Sheriff said. "My sons in their late '20s and early '30s love the integrity of their music, but some of the world has told them that mediocre sound is okay. When they hear great sound, you can see their eyes open.

"We have to get the message out to people that there is a big difference between hearing things in black and white, complete with distortion, and hearing the nuance that transmits emotion. That emotion can change your life."

Given Parasound's reputation for quality and affordability, I asked Sheriff if he yet had a sense of where he'd go from here.

"We'll start with maintaining Parasound's quality and enable our customers to realize their passion," he said. "We probably have about 15 product ideas that I want to vet with John Curl and others. But we want to release a game-changer—to change someone's life, not just come up with another competitive product. We're going to take our time, gather good feedback and insights, and find ways to reach people in their 20s, 30s, and 40s. Parasound hasn't invested heavily in social media in the past, and there are several different ways to get the word out to people who don't realize that they are audiophiles.

"I'd put our affordable products up against products that cost far, far more. I think we can challenge ourselves to open some doors and see what we can uncover. Likely, that would take us upstream. But I do not plan on compromising my products by going downstream. With my supply chain expertise and some forward staging, we might be able to get the price down and still deliver the same quality and performance."

Founded in 1981, Parasound remains a privately-owned U.S. company that specializes in providing affordable audio components to the critical listener. Parasound has a presence in more than 60 countries.

COMMENTS
MatthewT's picture

If you want a Parasound product, better buy it now.

johnnythunder1's picture

Hey Matthew T, I think other people should judge all your future business and life decisions with the same degree of cynicism you are judging Parasound's.

MatthewT's picture

No cynicism required. Welcome to China, Parasound. Not being a fan of their gear, I don't care either way other than its a bummer to see it happen. I guess we'll see in a year or so.

"One of my other companies was an overseas distributor, so I have experience with supply-chain issues"

"With my supply chain expertise and some forward staging, we might be able to get the price down and still deliver the same quality and performance"

SOLIDSTATES's picture

Evidently when the Good Shepard goes he goes all the way. Looks like he will shepherd the country of origin for sure and TRY to shepherd the (pardon the pun) current customer base. In this business specific customer base (good or bad) is built not packaged and sold.

Commish's picture

This is a very good outcome for Richard Schram and Parasound.
Finding an individual who understands the company, wants to keep the valued employees, and is looking to grow it through investment and building on the existing structure is what most every entrepreneurial owner hopes for.
The new owner not a soulless Private Equity group that wants to inflate Parasound like a balloon, only to sell it to the next PE group. Let's be happy for them and wish them the best.

Jancuso's picture

For all involved. Bravo!

cafe67's picture

Can anybody say Thiel

Look at how quickly the new owners f**ked over that company and left nothing

Let’s see if Parasound are still around this time next year

johnnythunder1's picture

different around peak Thiel time. (PS- I know lots of people liked Thiel speakers back then and they got tons of coverage but I never found them musical. Coherent is different than musical.). Let's hope for the best here.

mns3dhm's picture

Congratulations to the Schram's on their retirement and good luck to the new owner. Hopefully the brand's legacy as one of the best bang for the buck manufacturers will continue and flourish. Unless I'm mistaken, I believe JVS reported during a recent Seattle audio show that Parasound was displaying a prototype preamp that would replace the P6. I am curious if Stereophile has any information about whether the new owners will proceed with that development.

Glotz's picture

and it's pretty evident Parasound is in great hands with David Sheriff.

Well put, Commish! A much more personal touch is placed here.

windansea's picture

Don't do what Krell did.
Slow and steady like the Minnesota companies, Magnepan and Audio Research.
I do welcome the new owner's focus on affordability. That's obviously necessary to gain younger customers.

Perhaps the power supply would be a good place to cut costs-- just brainstorming here, what if a customer already has a big battery system in the house? So much focus on cleaning and rectifying AC, but what if the owner already has a big DC supply?

DaveinSM's picture

To me it seems that Parasound has occupied a pretty middle of the road part of the hi fi audio market, like Rotel, Adcom, and others.

It will be interesting if they stay where they are, or start branching out up or down market. This is a tough business and they’ve been around for awhile. I seem to remember that they started out as higher end than they are now.

I once had their AVC-1800 av processor in my system. While it looked cool and functioned well enough, I found the sound to be brittle and digital sounding, and the noise floor was noticeably high, like a constant low hiss. Moved to an Adcom GFP-750, and it was like night and day. I got 15 good years out of that Adcom and it still sounded good when I sold it. In fact, the buyer commented to me how blown away he was at how good it sounded. I believe it was a Nelson Pass design at heart. Great preamp.

georgehifi's picture

Wonder if John Curl will stay contracted to them, he pulled them up into the hi-end with his Halo designed Amps.

Cheers George

rwwear's picture

I hear Parasound hired a PS Audio engineer according to Paul McGowen.

SOLIDSTATES's picture

We are not sheep. We have a brain motoring two legs to take our business where we want. The writing here is on the wall. No?

claud's picture

Whether or not JC does stay with the new Parasound, the proof of the pudding will be when JA reviews the successor (??)to the JC-2 preamp-and how much it will impress him the way the JC-2 did versus his Levinson 380S. I can't help feeling very uneasy about this transition, but it's done so we can only hope for the best.

Allen Fant's picture

Excellent advice as above. Add- a successor to the CD-1 Reference Player.
Time for Parasound to get back in the Digital game.

JRT's picture

Parasound Halo products seem to carry a significant price premium, but it also seems that price premium does not include a transferrable warranty, so caveat emptor.

What follows was copied/pasted from the Parasound website:

"Important Consumer Warranty Information:

As of 6/16/2023 the Parasound factory warranty will ONLY be honored on USA sales of current never opened new units from currently Authorized Parasound Dealers. Read descriptions/receipts carefully to ensure you receive a unit that has never been opened (especially those that are discounted). This does not preclude a seller from extending their own warranty on opened product. If your dealer is not listed on the Dealers page, please email findadealer@parasound.com and we'll let you know if they are authorized."

https://www.parasound.com/

JRT's picture

Most of the Parasound Halo products seem to have disappeared from the various online dealer inventories, not available for sale.

JRT's picture

Safe & Sound has one Parasound Halo product listed for sale, only one. Searching their website using the search term "Halo" returned one open box Parasound Halo P7 multichannel preamplifier, with no warranty. Note that Parasound's non-transferrable warranty is void if the dealer opens the box prior to sale. That is all that Safe & Sound have from the Parasound Halo line card, just that one preamplifier.

Not sure about the cheaper end of Parasound's offerings, but products from the Halo line card seem to be disappearing from dealer inventories.

Be careful in buying any of it used, as the act of selling Parasound gear into the used market voids that warranty, voids that non-transferrable limted warranty. To me, that does not seem like a good way to stand behind a product.

Bryston still has a 20 year transferrable warranty on analog (amplifiers, etc.) and loudspeakers. Just be sure to have the original purchase receipt. That is a good warranty, and a good visible demonstration of standing behind their products.

tonye's picture

...take a hike?

The old hippy is happy doing amplifiers and has no need to take his company "to the next level".

Oh well, Parasound was great. I got a few of their things.

Nelson's too.

Nelson's are way better.

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