Acoustic Sounds, Inc.
Acoustic Sounds, Inc. is a mail-order business specializing in the sale of audiophile
Company history
Kassem started Acoustic Sounds in 1986, initially running it solo out of a two-bedroom apartment. Precisely when CDs were being introduced to the public and people were dumping their
That was 1988, and Kassem’s budding success allowed him to purchase a four-bedroom, ranch-styled house. Initially, it even looked like a home. But soon came more records. They devoured the basement, where Kassem’s now full-time business had added a few employees. They started climbing the stairs and soon controlled the living room and bedroom. This time the bathrooms were spared, but little else in Kassem’s workplace and home escaped the vinyl. He hired more employees for a shrinking workspace. Finally, when 18-wheelers started pulling up to Kassem’s residential address to deliver pallets, it was time to move.
New business divisions added
In 1991, Kassem scouted out a 3,500-square-foot former dance studio in this mid-sized Kansas downtown. At first the space was a dream. There was room for shelves to stock inventory. There was a conventional shipping-and-receiving area. But Acoustic Sounds continued to grow. In 1992, Kassem launched a reissue label called
Recording studio in Gothic-style church
By 1994, Acoustic Sounds had again outgrown its space. Kassem found a warehouse with enough room for his growing inventory and plenty of office space. There was a loading dock for the shipping. There was a large basement for overstock. The building was perfect for about eight years. But finally, records began to stack on and around employees’ desks, across the floor of what was supposed to be the shipping and receiving area and in every single corner of the building. Plus, Acoustic Sounds started to sell more equipment, which meant
Record pressing plant launched
Kassem was photographed for the cover of Billboard magazine, a leading publication in the music industry, in a profile written by Chris Morris for the Aug. 17, 2002, issue titled "Audiophile Labels Put a New Spin On Vinyl."[3] In 2004, Acoustic Sounds moved from their 6,000-square-foot warehouse to an 18,000-square-foot former grocery store.[4][5] At the time, the space seemed big enough to allow for as much growth as could possibly be foreseen. But just six years later, in 2010, Acoustic Sounds had once again outgrown its space. Kassem then purchased three buildings. All of the inventory was moved to a 28,000-square-foot warehouse. The office workers were moved to a 20,000-square-foot office building.[6] The third building – 21,000 square feet – was used to launch the latest Acoustic Sounds venture, Quality Record Pressings (QRP), a modern record pressing plant. QRP operates three different kinds of record presses and has equipped each with pioneering modifications, including adding microprocessors to the presses so that they will cycle based on temperature rather than the less accurate cycling by time.[7][8] All of the Analogue Productions reissues and the APO Records titles are now pressed at QRP and the pressing plant also handles the jobs of several other record labels.
SuperHiRez DSD/PCM download site launched
On August 28, 2013, Acoustic Sounds launched SuperHiRez.com, an Internet site selling mainstream title high-resolution album downloads from major record labels, produced using
See also
References
- ^ Robert Baird, "Kansas Crossroads: Chad Kassem Brings The Blues To Salina", Stereophile magazine January 2012
- ^ Julie Hess, It's All Coming Together, Acoustic Sounds catalog, Volume 6, March 1999
- ^ Chris Morris, Audiophile Labels Put A New Spin On Vinyl, Billboard magazine, Aug. 17, 2002
- ^ David Clouston, Mail-order business moves into former Tractor Supply Co. building, Salina Journal newspaper, March 17, 2005
- ^ Marc Sheforgen, Movin’ To The Music, Acoustic Sounds catalog, Volume 7.4, Summer 2005
- ^ Marc Sheforgen, Acoustic Sounds: We’re All Grown Up – Fresh off our move to 70,000 square feet, we live to tell the story…, Acoustic Sounds
- ^ "The Audio Beat - Vinyl's Home Office; Chad Kassem, Acoustic Sounds and Quality Record Pressings". www.theaudiobeat.com.
- ^ Michael Fremer, Analog Corner: Quality Record Pressings' Quest to Press the Best, Stereophile magazine, August 2011
- ^ "Account Suspended". www.marketnews.ca. Archived from the original on 2013-09-10. Retrieved 2021-05-27.
- ^ Snider, Mike. "Kansas firm raises bar on high-res music downloads". USA TODAY.
- ^ "Home Page". Stereophile.com. June 17, 2010.
External links
- Acoustic Sounds
- Salina record-maker revels in vinyl’s comeback - The Wichita Eagle