OUR STORY.
Theory is new thinking.
No, really. That’s not marketing jargon or hyperbole, we mean it matter-of-factly.
It’s not lost on us that the last thing the world needs is another loudspeaker brand. There already exists too many loudspeaker companies, and the glut of product options they offer is only compounded by all the Amplifier, DSP and Control brands that have added loudspeakers to their already bloated portfolios. These companies are quite literally “jack of all trades and masters of none”.
None of them, in our estimation, make anything truly original or exciting. They’re all the same.
So from conception, we knew that if we were going to bring any real value to an already saturated market, we needed to be different. We also knew that we could service the premium end of the market like no other company could, not only in terms of performance, but also, design. So we concluded that if we could offer something truly different, and fill the void that exists at the premium end of the market, we could make an impact; we could actually offer something new and valuable.
And thus, in 2018 Theory was born.
Founded by Paul Hales, a consumer and professional audio industry veteran with more decades of experience than he’d care to admit, Theory intends to disrupt the status-quo.
By marrying product development principles from consumer and professional audio segments, combined with extensive application of advanced materials and digital signal processing, we have created a small but immensely capable family of products that will consistently provide the highest performance available for premium installations.
Don’t let the size of the family fool you; there is almost no small-to-medium installed sound application that the Theory ecosystem can’t tackle - and do so with jaw-dropping performance and refreshing system simplicity.
The truth is, you simply don’t need hundreds of speakers and amplifiers to choose from for your projects, you just need a handful of extremely capable models that can do everything and go everywhere, and that you can trust.
And that’s what we’ve created.
So finally, background and foreground sound no longer has to be anemic and low resolution, and emanate from cheap non-descript boxes. Every Theory system provides dynamic, full-range sound that thrills listeners at any output level, from ambient all the way up to the near concert levels required in some of today’s more “lively” residential and commercial spaces. And they look good doing it, too. If you can see them, that is; some are invisible.
Our Promise.
Theory makes a simple promise: to deliver the best performance available in any product category we enter.
We stake our reputation on that claim and invite you to hold our feet to the fire by auditioning a Theory system today.
Your jaw is going to drop, we promise.
Our Executive Team.
Paul Hales - CEO
A self-proclaimed audiophile since the age of 12, Paul Hales had already designed and built his first pair of loudspeakers in his garage by the time he was 16. Hales graduated from the University of California, Davis in 1988 where he specialized in vibrations material science and earned his degree in Mechanical Engineering. Less than a year after graduating, Hales formed and started his own company – Hales Design Group – where his loudspeaker designs would go on to garner praise from the audiophile community, worldwide.
In 2000 Hales joined QSC where he established their Research and Development department for loudspeakers. He led the development of a new corporate logo and loudspeaker industrial design language which are still in use to this day.
Throughout the years, Hales has also been a design consultant for Samsung, BMW, and Dolby Laboratories.
In 2004, Hales founded Professional Home Cinema, LLC (known today as Pro Audio Technology or “PRO” for short) to develop professional-style loudspeakers for residential installed systems. PRO loudspeakers and DSP amplifiers/processors quickly became the system of choice by many A-list movie stars, producers, directors, and studio executives, for their personal residential screening rooms - and they continue to be to this day.
In 2018, Hales previewed Theory Audio Design, began shipping products into the residential space in 2020, and in 2023, launched Theory Professional to the commercial market. Theory addresses the premium audio niche head-on with a small stable of highly-refined, yet very high-utility loudspeakers, subwoofers, and amplified loudspeaker controllers that offer class-leading performance in every application – indoors and out.
Marc Bertrand - COO
Marc Bertrand started his career in 1990 as a publishing Sales Manager in Ontario, Canada at a group of industry publications serving the Pro Audio, Musical Instrument and Trade Segments. It was in that role he got to know the staff at Tannoy North America and in 1994 he accepted a position on the order desk. Bertrand quickly worked his way up within the organization, jumping from order desk to marketing and media relations, to sales and management.
In 2003 after Tannoy North America’s acquisition by TC Group, Bertrand was appointed the role of Managing Director. In 2009, TC Group Americas was formed and Bertrand was named CEO overseeing a catalogue of brands including Tannoy, TC Electronic, Lab.gruppen, Lake, and others through to 2016.
Following his time with TC Group Americas, Bertrand assumed an advisory role with Adamson Engineering before formally joining the company in 2017 as Managing Director Americas. In 2019 Bertrand was appointed the role of CEO where he led Adamson’s global operations for the next four years.
In 2022 Bertrand was introduced to Paul Hales and Erin Phillips by a mutual industry friend. In 2023 Bertrand officially joined Pro Audio Technology and Theory Audio Design as COO just ahead of Theory Professional’s launch into the commercial market. Bertrand’s excellent industry connections combined with his breadth of knowledge and experience in audio manufacturing, logistics, and growing sales networks at a global level makes him a perfect fit for the Theory executive team.
Erin Phillips - VP
Phillips has audio in her DNA. She was born into an audio-centric family and was exposed to good sound and loudspeaker manufacturing at a young age from within the walls of the Paradigm Electronics factory in Toronto, Canada. Erin built her first tweeter at the age of six! After graduating with a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Guelph, Phillips spent another decade working for Paradigm, Anthem, and MartinLogan managing global marketing and public relations for the three brands.
In 2016, Phillips joined the esteemed AV industry PR firm, Caster Communications, where she leveraged her in-depth AV expertise to lead over half a dozen accounts. One of those accounts was Pro Audio Technology and Theory Audio Design, which is how she was introduced to Hales. Anyone who has read about PRO and Theory in the news is familiar with Phillips’ work. Since 2016 she has scored a consistent cadence of top-tier press coverage for the two brands – including the debut of Theory Audio Design to the residential market in 2018.
In 2021, Phillips officially joined the Pro Audio Technology and Theory Audio Design team. Though Phillips continues to oversee all marketing and public relations for the company – including the launch of Theory Professional into the commercial market in 2023 – her role and responsibilities have expanded substantially.
Phillips is Hales’ right-hand and Vice President of the companies.