DJzone DJ Magazine

SLS Loudspeakers, a designer and manufacturer of some of the music industry’s most innovative loudspeaker systems and Quincy Jones, world renowned producer, musician, arranger, composer, Grammy Award, Academy Award and Emmy Award winner, announced today that they have entered into an agreement to develop a new line of home theater products.

Jones, who’s known in the music and film industry as “Q”, will co-develop a new line of high quality home theater and entertainment products for global markets under the name, “The Q Line.”

The Q Line will combine SLS’ proprietary “ribbon driver” technology, which provides some of the marketplace’s highest level of sonic engineering with Jones’ innovative design for optimum sound. Future Q Line products may also incorporate SLS’ Patented Evenstar digital amplifier technology.

Q Line products, which include headphones, will be targeted for distribution in mass-market retail outlets around the world with an expected launch date of fourth quarter 2004.

The Springfield, Missouri-based company has been designing and manufacturing premium-quality loudspeakers for the past 28 years. Initially, SLS International was solely devoted to servicing the professional audio and touring industry, but has now begun a major expansion of its operations into the retail, home theater and commercial markets.

From being amongst the earliest to recognize the revolutionary potential of the fender bass to being the first to compose a television score using a synthesizer, Jones has consistently embraced the evolution of technology throughout his distinguished career.

“Technology has always enriched my life and empowered me,” says Jones. “SLS is in that tradition. They’ve come up with a technology that should change our industry. Their speakers deliver sound in its most natural form and at a very affordable price. This breakthrough can be compared to the evolution of sound from mono to stereo. I’m excited to be involved in its future.”

“Having Quincy Jones recognize our technology and agree to partner with SLS International to develop and market our new line of products is a major step for establishing brand awareness and credibility in the consumer marketplace,” commented John Gott, SLS International’s chief executive officer. “Quincy is world renowned as the master of sound and I have always felt that if he became involved with our company we could become the leader in our industry.”

About Quincy Jones:
Acclaimed by many as the 20th and 21st century’s most prominent composer, arranger, record producer, artist, film producer and instrumentalist, Quincy Jones’ career is unprecedented. 79 Grammy nominations and 27 awards, multiple Oscar nominations for film scores and producer of the best selling single of all time, “We Are The World”, and the best selling album of all time, Thriller, are only a few of his extraordinary achievements.

Quincy has been a master inventor of many of the musical hybrids in shuffle pop, soul, hip-hop, jazz, classical, African and Brazilian music; presenting it to the world as some of the ingredients of a musical gumbo.

He has also been a major force in virtually every medium including records, live performances, movies and television. Quincy won an Emmy for the music score of the landmark TV miniseries, “Roots” and is the recipient of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award as well as the Grammy Living Legend Award.

He has received honorary doctorate degrees from over 15 major colleges including Berklee College of Music, Harvard University and The American Film Institute.

His business achievements are also monumental. Jones was a successful record company executive at Mercury Records and then later the founder, chairman and CEO of Quest Broadcasting. In 1990 Quincy formed Quincy Jones Entertainment (QJE) with Time Warner, Inc. and produced NBC’s Fresh Prince of Bel Air.

Quincy has also been instrumental in launching the careers of countless stars, including Whoopi Goldberg and Oprah Winfrey, who starred in the film The Color Purple, which Quincy also produced.
In addition, he currently serves as a consultant and advisor to Time Warner and XM Satellite Radio.

In 2001, Quincy added the title of “Best Selling Author” to his list of accomplishments when his autobiography Q: The Autobiography of Quincy Jones entered The New York Times, Los Angeles Times and Wall Street Journal Best-Sellers lists.

His humanitarian efforts have changed the lives of millions around the world and he has received countless national awards from foreign countries. He was named a 2001 Kennedy Center Honoree for his contributions to the cultural fabric of the United States of America.

Last month, he produced a live international concert in Rome to introduce the world to his newest humanitarian effort, called We Are The Future. It’s designed to help children from in-conflict cities throughout the world and he’s already planning next year’s concert.