Klein Group Buys Adcom

Klein Technology Group and Adcom have announced an agreement for the sale of Adcom's consumer electronics business to Klein, according to a press release issued January 8, during the Consumer Electronics Show. The effective date of the merger will be February 15.

The merger is the outcome of a sustained partnership between the two companies. "The principals of Adcom and Klein Technology have worked closely over the last year on several exciting yet to-be-released products," Adcom president Alec Chanin stated. "As a result, we are confident that our distribution partners and consumers alike will quickly realize the benefits of the resources and talent that Klein will now bring to the Adcom family of products, while remaining true to our legacy of high value and high performance that we established over the last 20 years."

Adcom's GFA-1 power amplifier was introduced in 1979, and in many ways it helped establish new standards for what was possible at affordable price points. The company was one of the first to explore the sonic benefits of oversized toroidal power transformers and large-capacitance power supplies, and has always concentrated its design efforts on improving circuitry and ergonomics rather than visual dazzle. Over the years, Adcom products have won recommendations by reviewers at Stereophile and other publications. Among Adcom's classics are the GFP-400 tuner/preamp, the GFP-555/565 preamps, and the GFA-535/545/555 series of power amplifiers—all of them from the late 1980s and early '90s. Wes Phillips gushed about the performance of Adcom's GFP-750 preamp in the March 1999 Stereophile. Under the Klein umbrella, Adcom will continue the tradition of excellence, executives asserted.

Following completion of the deal, Marlboro, NJ–based Adcom will move its business headquarters to Scottsdale, AZ. Engineering offices will be in Glen Rock, PA, near Baltimore. The current principals of Adcom will retain North American marketing and distribution of KEF and Celestion consumer electronics products and will operate after the sale as KEF America, the announcement stated.

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