CADAC stumbles...

[Simon Lewis]

news item here

[Mixermend]

That is really bad news - as arguably Cadac is a flag ship company making products of which the UK ought to be really proud.

 

I feel that they will quickly be sorted out - but this may mean that a number of UK mixing desk manufacturers end up being owned by the same holding company.

 

Still - it all gives opportunities for Management buyouts (or buy backs) - in the future!

[Bobbsy]

That's horrible news, not least because in the UK I lived not far from their headquarters and know, at least slightly, some of the people there.

 

I sincerely hope they do find a buyer--though it may be a case of "it's hard to sell a Rolls Royce in a world where every second post in the BR is asking where to get stuff on the cheap".

 

Bob

[J Pearce]

:) That's not good to hear, coming from Luton I know a few of the staff.

 

Hope that something can be sorted out, though the design team should all be able to get jobs elsewhere if necessary it still leaves admin staff and knock on effects to suppliers etc.

[dbuckley]

Sad. Their product was the bedrock of high end musical theatre for many years, right up until Yamaha moved in...

[MarkCadac]

Hi everyone,

Sadly its true, we were called into the office first thing Monday

morning to meet with the administrators.

A few members of staff have been kept on temporarily to try and find a

rescue plan, myself included. For the record I'm not a share-holder and

haven't spoken with Clive yet.

This is very frustrating as Cadac was (one of?) the last audio company

still (mostly) owned by its original founder (Clive Green). This is our

40th anniversary, and we are very close to delivering and have taken

orders and deposits for our first digital desks, plus this year we

planned to launch (and have taken orders for) our new vintage mic

pre-amps to coincide with the Cadac desk installed in the newly

refurbished Ronnie Lane Mobile Studio. Remember there were some sublime

albums recorded on Cadacs in the late 60s early 70s such as Supertramp's

Crime of the Century, which won a Grammy, and great tracks by bands from

Queen and Tom Petty to The Clash and the Sex Pistols. I was in the

middle of researching all this history with the new owners of the Ronnie

Lane Mobile. The move to put studio quality sound into the theatre

initially driven by Martin Levan and Andrew Bruce changed the direction

of the company, and the rest you know about. The oldest continually

serving Cadac in London was on Phantom of the Opera from 1984, (I think)

which was finally replaced this year. Phantom in New York is still on

the same desk from 1986, being changed this year along with the operators.

 

Hopefully we can find a buyer, and quickly, if not thank you to everyone

for supporting us over the years and the personal education and

enjoyment I've had from reading and contributing to "the forum."

If anyone does need to contact me, feel free to give me a call.

Kindest regards,

Mark

[RGSD]

Sad. Their product was the bedrock of high end musical theatre for many years, right up until Yamaha moved in...

 

What! Are you being serious? Yamaha has nothing on Cadac! I've a good mind to drop a nice 32 slot Cadac on a PM5 now!

[J Pearce]

Or throw both down a set of stairs and see which still works afterwards... :(

[RGSD]

Good idea - At least if there is a fault with the Cadac, you could just swap out the broken panel - You would have to order a new Yamaha!

[Bobbsy]

Alas, it's a sign of the times. Look how often the question "what is the cheapest mixer that does XYZ?" comes up...and how rarely the question is "what is the BEST mixer?". This is before we even get to issues like the footprint of the mixer and how many revenue-earning seats are taken out for the mix position.

 

The silly thing is that, in the long run, a Cadac that lasts 20 years is probably a better investment than a cheapie that gives you 4 or 5 years of heavy use. Of course all this is before we talk about how good the Cadac sounds!

 

(All this is me being hypocritical because I own a couple of Yamaha digital mixers--and have often extolled the virtues of these and other, newer offerings. However, I aspire to the sort of production that justifies a Cadac!)

 

Bob

[Doug Siddons]

Lighting and Sound International June 2008 page 20 ....tools that have shaped the industry

[whoneedsmikes]

Hi - having left the industry last year I only heard the news today from Tony Waldron at Cadac.

 

As Cadac's former sales manager it makes me so sad that this has been allowed to happen to such a venerable name. Maybe it's as much a sign of the times as anything; once the mixing console became driven (rather than 'assisted' as Cadac used to call it) by computers, perhaps it was inevitable that users' needs would develop more quickly and be less in-tune with Cadac's no-compromise attitude, from which Tony, Phil, Nick and the boys have never deviated. These guys have forgotten more about audio electronics design than most of us can ever hope to know.

 

Ironically, there's still nothing out there - however clever - that can match a well-maintained J-Type for sheer audio loveliness. Authograph's warehouse used to be full of empty 20-year-old E-Type and J-Type flightcases (while their contents were out earning money year after year), but now it's the consoles that are gathering dust while the sexier Digicos get on the big shows. How many of the current generation of desks will still be useable in 2 decades' time.

 

And never mind a tumble down the stairs - I remember the incident of the power supply rack (all 8U of it - and that was just one) that had fallen out of a stationary aircraft. A bit battered (the PSU had smashed its way out of the flightcase in protest) - but still working.

 

Let's hope the eventual buyer has some sensitivity to the unequalled reputration that this name still has

 

Mike Mann

[Simon Lewis]

Mike,

 

Your comments are most apt and a solemn reminder that not all progress is necessarily an improvement...

 

The latest news I could find was this.

 

Simon

[Bobbsy]

For the benefit of those who don't get the Pro Sound News e-newsletter, I received the following a few minutes ago:

 

A leading Chinese pro-audio group is Cadac's new owner, ending "six months of stasis" for the UK manufacturer, writes Dave Robinson. The Soundking Group Company Limited of Ningbo, China, has acquired the assets, trademark and intellectual property of Cadac Electronics plc.

 

After a protracted six-month search for a new financial backer, including a period of forced administration in December, the Luton-based console manufacturer began production once more on January 12th. Details of the deal were not disclosed.

 

Xianggui Wang, president and founder of Soundking - which has been making MI and pro-audio kit for 20 years - comments: "I am personally delighted that I have been able to bring the world-famous Cadac brand and its outstanding products into the Soundking Group. I am also extremely happy that we have been able to retain all Cadac employees and to protect their jobs in this time of economic uncertainty."

 

"Although the last few months have been a rocky ride for our employees, our customers and our suppliers, now that we are through that period, the future looks extremely good," says Bob Thomas (pictured), general manager of the new operating company, Cadac Holdings Limited. "Soundking Group are investing $6m in Cadac and in new product development and, now that we are able to draw on their financial resources, we will be able to accelerate that programme.

 

"I, too, am delighted that we have been able to retain all of our 25 staff and that manufacturing of Cadac consoles will remain in the UK."

 

After a challenging period that Thomas likens to "six months of stasis", the company is now working flat-out to fulfil a backlog of orders from Russia, Germany, Korea and China. The S-Digital console will be back on schedule for the start of production in mid-2009.

 

"I'm keen to emphasise that manufacturing will stay in the UK, and not go overseas," stresses Thomas. "The components and some of the PCB boards may eventually come from China, but the design, R&D and manufacturing all remain here. We want the R&D centre to become the hub of the European operation for Soundking."

 

In the immediate future, Thomas hopes to mark Cadac's return to full strength with a new product line at Frankfurt.

 

A rescue for Cadac has to be good news, though a look at the SOUNDKING website makes me curious about how compatible the two companies are. Still, guess we have to wait and see how it goes.

 

Bob

[StevieR]

Was speaking today to someone who is best friends with the main man. Design and manufacturing is to remain in the UK - at least for the foreseeable future. That in itself is good news as it will help maintain the brands reputation. Hopefully, what the Chinese are looking for is the kudos that such a brand brings to their portfolio.

 

Steve