Polk Audio has hired audio industry veteran Joe Phelps as director of sales, personal audio.
Joe Phelps.
The announcement was made by Ben Newhall, Polk Audio’s senior vice president of sales and marketing.
“Joe is like a walking encyclopedia of personal audio products, and his bullet-proof knowledge of the market has earmarked him as one of the true experts in the market,” Newhall said. “He is proving to be an asset as we launch our extensive series of high performance headphones, as well as an important contributor to personal audio product plans moving forward. We’re very fortunate to have him aboard.”
“I’m a longtime fan of Polk Audio loudspeakers, and our new headphones are 100 percent true to the company’s high-end audio pedigree,” Phelps said. “Unlike many players in the headphone market, Polk designs and engineers every single model, meaning that the same sonic craftsmen who voice our loudspeakers are doing the same for each of our headphone models. It’s an important advantage that is immediately apparent as soon as you slip on a pair.”
Though Phelps only recently joined the company, he first represented the brand as a partner in GP Marketing, which represented Polk Audio to the worldwide military market from 1980 – 1991. He subsequently joined Bose, where he spent 15 years as a business developer before moving to Sennheiser, where he handled some of the company’s largest retail accounts.
Commenting on Polk’s move into the headphone market and the need for a professional with Phelps’ talent and experience, Newhall said: “The key reason Polk entered the headphone business is that consumers have radically changed the way they choose to listen to their music. In fact, it’s hard to imagine seeing a runner or just about any athlete working out without a pair of headphones. Headphones now out-sell all types of traditional loudspeakers, including car and home theater.”
“Polk’s technologies will greatly enhance the performance of any iPhone or similar device,” Newhall added. “With the number of smartphone users expected to reach 300 million by 2015, we expect the trends driving headphone use to intensify. Having a talented professional like Joe is a key part of our commitment to the personal audio category. We are thrilled to have him on the Polk team.”
