Just as CEDIA dominates the CI market in the Fall, so too does ISE (Integrated Systems Europe) have a similar effect each February, with major players and upstarts alike vying for the attention of more than 65,000 visitors absorbing a barrage of news and updates over the course of four days.
For those unfamiliar with the event, ISE is a joint effort of CEDIA and InfoComm, representing the interests of manufacturers, distributors, dealers, and installers entrenched in either (or both) markets. Held each year at the RAI in Amsterdam, ISE, now 12 years old, continues to grow in size and scope, with the 2016 event drawing a record-breaking 65,600 attendees from all over the world. That number is up 10.7% over 2015, and next year's show is likely to be bigger still.
As big as the show may be, for Russound, it's a little like going home. Russound has been an ISE exhibitor since its inaugural year.
"We've seen ISE grow from a fledgling, regional event to one of the must-attend shows in the custom market," said Russound's CEO, Charlie Porritt. "For us, the two most important events on the calendar are CEDIA and ISE. These two shows have the greatest impact on the brand and our customers."
Russound took the occasion to highlight several of the new products it first announced at CEDIA, many of which are either shipping now or will be in the next few weeks. Front and center were the TVA2.1 digital amplifier for better sounding TV audio, XSource streaming audio player, XZone4 four stream, four zone audio system, and two new amplifiers - the A250 and A2100.