Harrisburg, PA–D&H Distributing has entered an agreement with Kenwood USA to distribute Kenwood’s digital Home Entertainment solutions.
Key product lines will include the vendor’s complete line of audio/video receivers, home theater-in-a-box systems and the SIRIUS home satellite products; as well as DVD players, Kenwood Fineline home entertainment systems (including a video gaming audio unit), amplifiers and remotes.
The addition of Kenwood to D&H’s linecard strengthens the distributor’s home audio offering, giving its resellers, dealers, retailers and custom installers access to high fidelity audio components that will build value into media-PC networks and other home entertainment systems.
Audio fidelity is becoming more essential to the digital home, as media-PC units begin to incorporate more enhanced audio functions such as MP3 and distributed audio.
“Digital audio has the potential to become a defining characteristic of the electronic home, one that could distinguish the quality of the network, the same way that high-end speakers once indicated a top-of-the-line home stereo system,” said Dan Schwab, vice president of marketing at D&H Distributing. “Kenwood’s A/V technology can create that kind of differential. We feel privileged to help them penetrate both the CE and the IT channel.”
According to D&H, Kenwood, whose distribution has previously been more retail-focused, can gain new market share through D&H’s customer network, since its dealers function as home networking experts promoting end-to-end entertainment installations. D&H’s efforts to educate resellers on digital convergence is another attractive element of the D&H partnership for Kenwood: Resources like D&H’s Convergence Road Show and its Digital Convergence Web Site help level the learning curve many dealers confront as they transition to home networking, and these sources also provide a venue by which vendors can promote their new technologies.
“D&H has been very thorough in its efforts to develop the digital reseller community, so we want them on our side as we make headway in the channel. They arm their partners with strategies and expertise to help incorporate diverse solutions, including many IT-based components,” said Dean Hutto, vice president of Kenwood’s home entertainment division.
“D&H’s capabilities can help make Kenwood a more prominent part of the integrated home entertainment architecture,” Hutto added.
