Renkus-Heinz
Renkus-Heinz is a California-based manufacturer of loudspeakers and related professional sound reinforcement equipment specializing in steerable loudspeaker technology. Based in Foothill Ranch, California,[1] the firm has a global presence in permanent installations at auditoriums, transit centers,[2] sports venues,[3] houses of worship[4] and musical performance venues[5] as well as in the concert touring industry.[6]
Headquarters in Foothill Ranch, California | |
Industry | Audio electronics |
---|---|
Founded | 1979 |
Founders | Harro K. Heinz, Algis Renkus |
Headquarters | Foothill Ranch, California, United States |
Key people | Matt Czyzewski, President Harro K. Heinz, CEO |
Products | Loudspeakers |
Website | renkus-heinz |
History
Renkus-Heinz was founded on April 1, 1979 by Harro K. Heinz and Algis Renkus (1937ā1997[7]).[1] Heinz had previously been awarded a patent in 1975 for his work on a "Comprehensive feedback elimination system employing notch filter"[8] that was performed while he was employed at Rauland Borg Corporation, the company he left to found Renkus-Heinz.[9] Algis Renkus was joined in the new enterprise by his father Jonas A. Renkus (b. 1912) who had worked at Altec under industry veteran John Kenneth Hilliard.
While at Renkus-Heinz, Jonas Renkus patented a new triple lamination construction method in 1980. In 1981, the two Renkus men left Renkus-Heinz to assist Emilar, which was having trouble staying in business. Harro Heinz remained president of Renkus-Heinz.
While Jonas and Algis Renkus were at Emilar, they began using the patented triple lamination method which had been assigned to Renkus-Heinz. Heinz sued for damages but dropped the case during the hearing.[10]
In 1989 Harro's son Ralph D. Heinz joined Renkus-Heinz to work with Don B. Keele, Jr. and Gene Patronis and further his knowledge of electro-acoustics and horn loudspeaker design. Ralph Heinz eventually became senior vice-president of R&D[11] and patented a method of arraying loudspeakers for better phase coherency in 1994.[12] In 1996, he patented a multiple driver horn which was promoted as the "CoEntrant" transducer, covering both mid- and high-frequency bands in one horn.[13] In 2016, Ralph Heinz was named Chief Technical Officer.[14]
In 1999, Harro's daughter Monika Heinz Smetona joined Renkus-Heinz on the administrative team and was named chief operating officer in 2016.[15] She was then named chief financial officer in 2019.
In May 2019, Matt Czyzewski joined Renkus-Heinz as president.[16]
Patents
- US patent 4336425, Jonas A. Renkus, "HIGH FREQUENCY COMPRESSION DRIVER AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURE THEREOF", issued 1980-05-06
- US patent 4887298, Robert M. Haigler, "ELECTRONIC CIRCUIT FOR SENSING DISCONNECT OR FAILURE OF A POWER OUTPUT SENSE LINE IN AN AUDIO POWER SYSTEM", issued 1988-06-15
- US patent 5750943, Ralph D. Heinz, "SPEAKER ARRAY WITH IMPROVED PHASE CHARACTERISTICS", issued 1994-02-15
- US patent 5526456, Ralph D. Heinz, "Multiple-driver single horn loud speaker", issued 1996-06-11
Products
- ICLive X Series
- Directivity Control Series
- ICONYX Gen5
- VARIA-RN & RD
Awards
- Rental & Staging Systems Best of Show Award for the ICLive X series[17]
- rAVe [Pubs] The Best of ISE 2019 Award for the DC12/2[18]
See also
- Meyer Sound Laboratories
- QSC Audio
- JBL
References
- "Companies P-Q-R-S Renkus-Heinz". Audioannals.com. Archived from the original on September 3, 2004. Retrieved April 16, 2017.
- Renkus-Heinz. Auditorium / Transit
- Renkus-Heinz. Sports
- Renkus-Heinz. Houses of Worship
- Renkus-Heinz. Performing Arts / Theatres
- Renkus-Heinz. Tour / Rental
- ARX.com. Algis Renkus memoriam
- US patent 4088835, Harro K. Heinz, "Comprehensive feedback elimination system employing notch filter", issued 1975-05-09
- Audioannals.com. Biography GāH. Harro Heinz
- Audioheritage.org. Robert Grunberg bulletin board entry Jonas Renkus and his Bowtie horn posted December 28, 2006.
- AES Los Angeles section. October 2000. A Field Trip to Renkus-Heinz
- U.S. Patent 5,750,943
- Sound & Video Contractor. April 1, 1999. Ralph Heinz. The Renkus-Heinz CoEntrant transducer
- SCN Staff (May 23, 2016). "Renkus-Heinz Announces Reorganization of Leadership". AVNetwork.
- Basnicki, Erica (May 22, 2016). "Reorganisation at Renkus-Heinz". Retrieved 13 August 2020.
- Mullen, Amanda (April 2, 2019). "Matt Czyzewski Appointed President Of Renkus-Heinz". Sound & Communications Media.
- SVC Staff (June 14, 2019). "Rental & Staging Systems announces Best of Show InfoComm 2019 Awards". Future Media.
- Kayye, Gary (March 15, 2019). "Here Are the Best of ISE 2019 Awards ā AV's Only NOT-Pay-for-Play Awards". THE rAVe Agency.