ANDY LEWIS, CEO ACME SOUND
As a science geek with a background in physics, I knew we could be the first to achieve this goal. In fact, I knew we could do even better—that meticulous design, construction, and application of proven technology would deliver natural, full-range sonics with extended lows…at high volumes…from small, light boxes. The only trade-off was a requirement for higher-powered amplification (which was required for adequate headroom anyway and was readily available at a low cost).
Our first Acme cabinet broke new ground not just with electric bass players, but also with double bassists and keyboardists. In fact, it appealed to musicians of all kinds who were looking for high quality, high SPL, low-coloration, full spectrum sound without back pain. Bands also found that our cabs were ideal for PA where accurate reproduction counted.
While smaller enclosures are now common, to this day no one else offers what we do. Why? My guess is that other companies pursuing big sales numbers don’t have the knowledge, the time, or the motivation to do what it takes (and it’s a lot) to achieve uncompromised sound.
At Acme, our complex, resonance-controlling bracing system is proprietary. So are our crossovers, which are designed and built in-house…and our drivers, which are modified to meet our unique specifications. All of this costs money. Bottom line, its only because we sell direct, without a middleman’s markup (but with a two-week trial period) that we can offer our enclosures at such reasonable prices.
It also helps our that our business has grown on the strength of word-of-mouth, not advertising. (We really do invite you to “Ask a player who owns one”.). Then again, it’s because we invest more time and dollars in our products, that we can also offer a full ten-year warranty on everything we make and very rarely get a claim.
Elsewhere on this site, you can read what we are and do. It’s easier for me to say what we aren’t and don’t do. In short, nothing at Acme is an assembly line, “me too”, off-the-shelf, “just like the rest”, “good enough”, designed to meet a price point or a result of planned obsolescence.
We continue to develop new generations of high-end cabinets that are better because that’s what keeps us going. Personally and financially.