Here is a very brief review of the key elements of the Innersound/Sanders history:
Innersound, Inc. was founded in 1996 by Raj Varma who lived in the U.K. He hired Roger Sanders to design electrostatic speakers for him. Eventually, Mr. Varma expanded Roger's role to run Innersound in the U.S. while Mr. Varma manufactured computers in the U.K.
The key element here is that Roger was an employee of Innersound and never owned or controlled the company. So when Gary Leeds wanted to buy Innersound, the decision to sell was made by Mr. Varma -- Roger had no say in the matter.
When Gary Leeds bought Innersound, Inc. (February 2003), he dissolved the company and started a new one (Innersound LLC). He allowed Roger to become a minority share holder in the new company.
But as majority share holder, Mr. Leeds maintained total control of the company and once again, Roger could not manage the company in the manner he would have liked. This eventually led to Roger leaving Innersound, LLC in July of 2004.
After leaving Innersound, Roger started his own company (Sanders Sound Systems, LLC). Shortly thereafter, Innersound, LLC went out of business.
But before doing so, Mr. Leeds asked Roger to take care of Innersound's customers. Roger agreed to do so and Mr. Leeds transferred critical Innersound parts inventory to Roger so that he could service Innersound's products.
Note that although Roger does provide service for Innersound's products, Innersound's warranty is no longer valid since Innersound is out of business. In any case, enough time has passed that any warranty on Innersound's products has expired. Therefore, Innersound customers have to pay a modest price to have their equipment serviced by Sanders Sound Systems.
In summary, there have been three distinct companies. There was the original Innersound, Inc., which was owned by Raj Varma. Gary Leeds bought Innersound, Inc., dissolved it, and started a new company called Innersound, LLC. He eventually dissolved that as well.
Roger Sanders started Sanders Sound Systems, LLC. Although Roger worked for both of the Innersound companies, his company (Sanders Sound Systems) is not associated with either of the Innersound companies, both of whom no longer exist.
By having control if his own company, Roger can now operate it as he deems best. For example, he can now offer lifetime warranties and risk-free, 30-day, in-home trials. He also sells both factory direct and through selected dealers.
He makes all the engineering decisions based on performance, instead of on the approval of company owners. And he makes improvements in the design of his equipment when he wishes as technology advances.
Unlike the Innersound companies, Roger handles Sanders' company finances so that there is zero debt, there is cash in the bank, inventory in stock, and overhead costs are extremely low. As a result, Sanders Sound Systems can handle difficult economic times easily, successfully, and with greater security than his larger competitors.
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and by the way, Sanders Sound Systems is coming out with a new pre-amp ( which includes both line stage and phono stage preamplifiers). More details to follow as we get closer to release; but you can call Roger at anytime to get the details.
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Cheers,
Angela
Sanders Sound Systems
