Oct 17, 2022
LCI Industries (NYSE: LCII) announced on September 27th, that its wholly owned subsidiary, Lippert Components, Inc. (“Lippert”), a manufacturer and supplier of a broad array of highly engineered components for leading RV, marine, and automotive manufacturers, has entered into a license agreement to acquire exclusive rights from audio technology company Resonado, Inc. to the Resonado Performance Audio (Resonado) brand for the recreational vehicle, marine, powersports, specialty trailer, rail, and commercial bus industries.
The license includes existing product designs, featuring Resonado’s proprietary technologies, the right to continue to design, manufacture, and distribute certain audio products bearing the Resonado brand, as well as support from key talent on the Resonado team that was dedicated to building the Resonado brand and product suite.
Resonado is a venture-backed company with its headquarters in Chicago, Illinois. The company invented Res-Core™, a new, proprietary speaker motor that enables a new category of high-performance speaker drivers in a sleeker form factor and one of the most significant hardware advancements in the industry since the traditional cone loudspeaker was invented in the 1920s. The company launched the Resonado brand in the RV industry with Airstream, Inc. and in the marine industry through a partnership with the Lippert Marine Group.
The company has since partnered with iconic American audio brand Klipsch® to launch in-home audio and is actively working on multiple Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contracts with the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Special Forces to develop innovative, tactical communication technologies. As the company hones in on design engineering projects in its Chicago lab, Resonado has looked to focus its resources there and away from manufacturing.
“We’ve watched Resonado evolve since they got their start at the University of Notre Dame and have seen firsthand the potential their technology has in our industries. After actively collaborating on projects for a couple of years now and seeing how innovation in the audio industry has exploded, we have decided that we’re in a position to take Resonado all the way as a premium audio brand under the Lippert umbrella," said Jason Lippert, President and CEO of Lippert.
While Lippert will be taking over design, manufacturing, and distribution for the Resonado brand, Lippert and Resonado will continue to collaborate at a technology development level.
“Resonado has developed technologies that are bringing about true innovation to the speaker in marine audio for the first time since the beginning of the industry, and we’re just getting started. We’re looking forward to staying at the bleeding-edge of audio technology and working with industry-leading partners like Lippert to commercialize these technologies at a large scale,” said Chuck Lukezic, President of Resonado Labs.
The two companies first revealed a co-designed Resonado sound system in Lippert’s concept boat at IBEX 2021, which showcased the advantages of integrating Resonado technologies in the marine industry. The boat featured a combination of 17 Resonado speakers tuned to provide an experiential system tailored to the boat layout. The system also featured two speakers built into the frame of the SureShade® power bimini to elevate the sound stage in a way that showcases Resonado’s signature sleek, high-tech design.
