9-21-2016 -- As things typically go in the consumer electronics world, you can start out in one place and end up somewhere completely unexpected. Such was the case with Paul Goldberg, who took the reins at the Montebello, Calif.-based Epsilon Group of Companies more than 18 months ago as VP of sales and marketing.­­

Started 35 years ago by brothers Jack and Don Rochel, Epsilon has grown from its roots as a single brand, Power Acoustik, to an industry leading outfit that houses several major names under its umbrella including Farenheit, SPL, Soundstream, and Precision Power.

Surprisingly, Goldberg’s career hasn’t included car audio at all. He worked for DXG Technology Inc., a maker of digital cameras and camcorders. He spent time at Epson America, MicroCom, and Diamond Multimedia where he spent 10 years selling cable modems, routers and graphics cards for gamers. “I’ve been in just about everything over the years.”

But being a newcomer to the 12-volt world definitely has its advantages. “The reason [the Rochel brothers] brought me on board was because of my different perspective than a lot of vets in the business,” Goldberg said. “My background is computers, peripherals, connectivity, video, still pictures—and all of these technologies are now being incorporated into the connected car environment. I’m not a hardcore audiophile, but I’ve come into this industry with a lot of experience in other consumer electronics categories and have an understanding of the different channels for those kinds of technologies. So that is where my perspective differs and gives me the ability to take a look at where this company can go and will go into the future as opposed to the same things that have been done already. What are we going to do, come out with another thousand-watt amplifier? What consumers want is access to technology at a reasonable cost—and that is what we do.”

All In The Family

With his fresh outlook, Goldberg is focused on positioning all of the company’s diverse brands to a more discerning consumer base. “We’re looking to differentiate,” he said. “One of the issues is that a lot of the different models have similarities. We need to have each model in each brand do its own thing and exist on its own rather than be a clone of another brand. There has been a lot of diversification in the last year. You’ve seen the graphic user interface with video products. The performance and design with speakers and amps are now very different.”

The products also target different price points and address different concerns of consumers in the marketplace, Goldberg noted.

The growth strategy that has been in place has paid off, he said, with market share and profitability results to prove it. “We’ve grown by six or seven percent, very profitable,” Goldberg said. “We’re about 12 to 14 percent ahead of where we were last year at this time.”

The backbone of the effort is about having the right product. “In general, we’ve been very successful in head units that incorporate navigation,” Goldberg said. “Our competitors have been indicating that that’s been on the decline, but our customers have said they’re coming to us because we produce a great product at a great price. A lot of our units allow you to plug in your smartphone and mirror what’s on your display. Incorporating your smartphone into your head unit has been a real winner for us in terms of where we have gone.”

The company has also added digital amps to its lineup—ones that are smaller and throw off much less heat with more power than the gigantic amps that have been the norm in the business for a long time. “Even though it’s technology that has just started being embraced by the consumer, it is a good strategy because it’s growing.”

Speaker technologies have also been expanded with a variety of woofers at different price points that are both efficient and capable of handling a range of amp power. “Those have done very well for us,” Goldberg noted.

To steer product development in the right direction, Goldberg has implemented something he has found successful in his previous lives—the focus group. “When we design something, engineers talk to chip makers about all the great technology that can be incorporated into a product. If you incorporate this great tech into a product, you also have to consider what the consumer wants. We’ve gotten a lot of consumer feedback. We create prototypes, get consumer feedback, and based on that feedback decide what features will be included in products. We’re just seeing now how it is starting to pay off.”

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