Howard A. Heiber

Cases in point include API founder Howard Heiber and Polk's founders.

"I've never met anyone that had the attitude, work ethic, loyalty and friendship Anthony displayed," said Howard Heiber, former owner and president of API.

Howard A. Heiber, PresidentAudio Products International Corp, On.

Cases in point include API founder Howard Heiber and Polk's founders.

Howard A. Heiber, PresidentAudio Products International Corp., On.

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Howard HeiberPresident, Audio Products InternationalIf it were not for a little serendipity and a gut feeling, Howard Heiber, president of Audio Products International of Canada, might not be the giant of the audio business that he is today.His career actually started when he was 13 years old, doing odd jobs for his father at Atlas Electronics, a small rep company.After college, he joined Atlas in the accounting department, and five years later went on the road selling.

After a stint away from the audio business, Heiber asked his accountant to let him know of any electronics businesses for sale.It was 1972.Six months later the accountant called him with a tip on Global Sound Systems.Global, (previously known as Double Diamond Bowling, because the company also produced bowling alleys), was an OEM speaker manufacturer owned by Philips Electronics.Heiber made an appointment to meet the general manager and take a tour.

After waiting an hour and half for the manager, who never showed, an annoyed Heiber marched straigh into the Global accountant's office.That's then the accountant laid it out for him.If Philips didn't find a buyer by 2:00 p.m. that very day, the company was shutting down.So Heiber got on the phone with his banker and gave him the story."I hadn't seen the numbers.I hadn't seen the facility.I hadn't seen anything," explains Heiber.The bank called back at 1:45 p.m. to tell Heiber he would have the money to buy it."So I phoned the accountant and said I was in." About two weeks later they closed the deal.And that's how Howard Heiber became the owner of a speaker company.

Selling Athena Technologies, Energy and Mirage brand speakers, Heiber's company, renamed API in 1984, is known as a premier manufacturer worldwide.
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Heiber said he's learned a lot of important things along the way, but some of the best learning experiences came when he spent two years on the road working for Atlas Electronics."I learned more in the two years I was on the road selling then I did in the five years in the office," he says.Out in the field "You see all aspects of the business: the credit side; the sales side; the administrative side...the key for anybody who's in sales is to know how their customers are doing and how they do it, because you might be able to help then with it," he explains.The other key thing he learned out in the field is that when you promise to do something for someone, you do it right away.That's just good business.

I can see why API's president, Howard Heiber, decided to stand his ground against Sunfire's Bob Carver with respect to the patents on small subwoofers, and won.

Howard Heiber, head of Toronto's Audio Products International, says, "It took us fifteen years to become an overnight success!"

API is definitely one of the leaders, marketing its Energy, Mirage, and Athena Technologies brands in more that 60 countries.It claims to be among the ten largest speaker-manufacturing companies in the world.

Today's API is, in fact, the successor to several different concerns.The earliest was Global Sound Systems which Heiber and his partners bought in 1972.Heiber had been involved in electronics since he was a kid; his father had worked for a pro-audio distributor, and Howard began working there after school.
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When the distributor's investors decided to cash out, Heiber picked up the line.

Over the next few years, the company's roster swelled to nine brands, but in 1989 they decided to concentrate on just three: Energy, Mirage, and Sound Dynamics.Several years ago, the last was replaced by Athena Technologies, originally an innovative modular speaker line that was intended to be part of the Sound Dynamics line.It has instead become its own brand.

The company started exporting in a small way to the U.S. about 25 years ago, but it wasn't until the recession of the early 1990s that API made a concentrated effort to sign-up foreign dealers, which they did with notable success.Now, according to Howard Heiber, only about 20 percent of their sales are in Canada; the United States accounts for about 55 percent, and the rest are spread around the world.One of the few places where their success has been limited is Japan, which Heiber calls a "difficult" market.

"Entering into a partnership with Gentec will add a new dimension to API's extensive family of audiophile speakers," added Howard Heiber, President of API.

Howard Heiber, President and CEO of API was looking at new avenues to significantly grow the business and hired Alex Romanov to run this newly formed Business Development group.