Name: Erin Phillips
Title: Vice President
Company: Theory Professional

rAVe [PUBS]: Tell us a little bit about who you are and what you do at Theory Professional.

ERIN PHILLIPS: Hi! I am the vice president of Pro Audio Technology and Theory Audio Design (Theory Professional being the commercial brand of Theory Audio Design).

I like to joke that I have audio in my DNA. I grew up near Toronto, Canada in an audio and music-centric family. I started playing classical piano at age six and built my first tweeter around the same time. I spent many summers and school breaks working at a highly respected loudspeaker and electronics company alongside my dad and close family friends. After completing a Bachelor of Commerce degree, I returned to the AV industry with a focus on marketing and public relations.

In 2016, I met Paul Hales of Pro Audio Technology (PRO) while working at Caster Communications. Once I experienced my first PRO demo I was sold. It was (and still is) the best audio I have ever heard from any audio company in the AV industry—and I’ve been to many audio shows and sat through hundreds of demos! In 2018, I oversaw the launch of Theory Audio Design into the residential market, and in 2021, I joined the companies to oversee marketing and public relations. Since 2021, my role within the companies has expanded substantially. We are a small but very capable team doing big things including the launch of Theory Professional at InfoComm 2023.

rAVe [PUBS]: How does your company approach product development and innovation to ensure your audio solutions remain at the forefront of technology?

EP: Theory makes a simple, yet very bold promise: to deliver the best performance available in any product category we enter. We stake our reputation on that claim, and we are proud of it. Our experience is that many audio companies spend too much time looking at the competition or at the last model they made, and with each new loudspeaker release they simply try to make a better version of the previous model or of their competitors. The problem with that approach is over time all the speakers in the industry start looking — and even sounding — kind of the same. This is called strategic convergence.

We approach product development from the exact opposite lens. We look at the bigger picture while listening to our customers to find out the problems they have in the field and installation obstacles they need to work around. From there, we work backwards to build a product that solves their problem, is easy to install and is built to last all while sounding exceptional.

rAVe [PUBS]: In what ways do you prioritize user experience and ease of integration for ProAV professionals when designing your audio equipment?

EP: Theory offers a small stable of highly capable products that can go anywhere and do anything. When designing a product, one of our primary goals is to simplify the specification and installation process. For example, our ic6 in-ceiling speaker can also be used in high-moisture environments with the optional all-weather grille, as well as integrated into a paintable pendant housing or bollard housing to be installed in open-ceiling environments and landscapes. How cool (and thoughtful!) is it that a single Theory speaker model can be used in all of those installations?

The Theory iws12 subwoofer is another example of simplicity and flexibility at its finest. The iws12 speaker assembly can be integrated into an in-wall enclosure for 2×6 walls, a surface mount enclosure that can also be hung or mounted and bollard subwoofer for landscape installations.

rAVe [PUBS]: What is the greatest challenge audio professionals currently face and why?

EP: The greatest challenge audio professionals face is educating clients on the benefits of high-performance audio. Other product categories like video and lighting, for example, don’t seem to have this challenge. These product categories are typically assigned a massive portion of the project budget, while audio is often a mere afterthought. I believe this is because most people have never heard exceptional — or even good quality — audio and therefore they do not prioritize audio in their projects. However, I have seen the change in perspective once someone is exposed to performance audio. It’s an experience that resonates and, more often than not, leads to an increase in budget.

As audio professionals it is our job to help educate integrators, specifiers, consultants and end users on the benefits of high-performance audio and to demonstrate the difference. At PRO and Theory this is our number one mission. We have a beautiful 7,500 square foot Experience Center in Southern California that is completely decked out with exceptional audio systems. From theater environments to distributed audio, every single time a customer or end user completes a tour and demos of our Experience Center, their eyes (and ears!) are opened up to what is possible. We sell a system every time we complete a demonstration, and often times, a much larger system than the customer originally intended.

rAVe [PUBS]: In your opinion, what is the number one trend shaping the future of pro audio right now and how is Theory Professional positioned to capitalize on this trend?

EP:The greatest trend we see shaping the future of pro audio is immersive audio. From corporate meeting rooms to museums and performing arts centers, incorporating spatial audio into is gaining popularity. The residential side of our business has a 20-year history catering to high-end screening room installations, where immersive audio is commonplace. And we are amongst very few consumer companies that have products included in the Commercial DARDT (Dolby Audio Room Design Tool). We are positioned to capitalize on this trend because our loudspeakers and loudspeaker controller technology is specifically designed for immersive installations. It’s what we’ve been waiting for!

rAVe [PUBS]: What are some new audio initiatives or innovations coming up from Theory Professional?

EP: Historically professional audio has prioritized durability and dynamics over fidelity, but Theory Professional recently entered the professional market to prove you can have it all. By marrying product development principles from both the consumer and professional audio segments, combined with extensive application of advanced materials and digital signal processing, we have created a small collection of immensely capable loudspeakers that provide the highest audio performance available.

rAVe [PUBS]: Anything else you’d like to add?

EP: If you haven’t experienced a Theory system demo, we welcome you to reach out. Checkout our website for more information and to get in touch with our team.