By Douglas Weinstein
Photo courtesy of Rebecca McAlpin
Founded in the 1970s, Gramophone in 1976 and World Wide Stereo in 1979, these two industry leaders have long set the standard for home technology design and system integration in the Mid-Atlantic. Together, they’ve earned national recognition for delivering award-winning A/V systems, smart home automation, and custom electrical solutions. In 2024, the companies entered a strategic partnership. While continuing to operate independently, they now collaborate under shared leadership to deliver innovative, high-touch experiences across Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Maryland. With more than 50 years of combined expertise, they bring a legacy of excellence to a rapidly evolving marketplace.
I sat down with Andrew Davis, CEO and Managing Partner, to discuss the rich history of these industry pioneers and how they are evolving and redefining how consumers experience the immersive world that today’s smart home technologies can deliver.
“We want to be involved in the planning and design phase to ensure that proper audio and other technologies are intelligently planned throughout the space. So, the advancements both companies have made over the years still center around audio as a vital pillar of our business philosophy.”
Doug: Andrew, for our audience who might not appreciate how vital World Wide Stereo and Gramophone have been to the world of smart home technology, specifically, the enjoyment of high-fidelity music, talk about what continues to drive both companies.
Andrew: Both companies share incredible synergies. They were started in the seventies by Bob Cole at World Wide Stereo and Brian Hudkins at Gramophone, with a foundation of audio, both hippies at heart from what I understand. [laughs].
Bob and Brian still frequent our showrooms and are proud of both companies’ advancements. Audio is our foundation, it’s our origin and our anchor. Everything we’ve built, from custom integration to electrical services and design-build, is rooted in our passion and legacy in high-performance audio.
We now also offer high-end electrical, not just because of the cool advancements in lighting that require electrical planning, but it’s a pathway that gets us into the customers’ homes to plan for audio early in the design process. Having seasoned electricians lets us create and install robust systems from the ground up, no handoffs, no limitations. Early integration equals better outcomes.
We’re also heavily involved in the remodeling business. We now have a whole division dedicated to smart home remodeling. We want to be involved in the planning and design phase to ensure that proper audio and other technologies are intelligently planned throughout the space. So, the advancements both companies have made over the years still center around audio as a vital pillar of our business philosophy.
Doug: Tell us about your journey with these fantastic companies.
Andrew: I started out selling electronics at Sears and also for Tweeter Home Entertainment. I worked my way up the ladder at Gramophone, starting on the sales floor and doing every job our company offered.
When I saw Brian Hudkins’s younger brother seeking retirement, I reached out to Brian and asked him, “How do I take over this amazing company?” Over the course of a few years, we put together a plan. My partner and I acquired Gramophone and have built it into what it is today. While World Wide Stereo is a separate company, they share back-end operations, best practices, marketing and vision.
My story mirrors our commitment to passion, perseverance and reinvention. Gramophone and World Wide Stereo came together through mutual respect and a shared outlook on the future of experiential retail, technology integration, and design collaboration. We combine the insights from both companies to stay at the forefront of technology, customer experience, and design.
Doug: Break down the ways you touch the consumer, from retail to ecommerce to technology design and system integration.
Andrew: Today, we have to find customers in new and creative ways. Our strategy is hybrid, it’s the future. From “click to cart” convenience to full-service design and installation, we support every type of customer with the expertise to deliver and exceed expectations.
Retail is critically essential and the most important thing we can offer our vendor partners and customers. Seeing, touching and hearing are necessary for discerning buyers who want elevated systems in their home. Our Experience Centers invite discovery, they’re the antidote to commodity tech sold online or in big-box stores. Our clients want to check out what makes our products unique and different. But we would be naive to think that those same consumers aren’t buying headphones from their sofa with their iPad in the middle of the night.
So, why should they have to deal with multiple retailers when they can deal with essentially one? Whether our e-commerce business ties back to our brick-and-mortar locations, many customers who contact us via phone and email start online. They may see a video of a project or photographs of our job. They may find us on Amazon as a reseller or by Googling a product they are interested in, and eventually, that leads them back to our website.
And while we think our websites are awesome, ultimately we find that customers are often pairing improper products together. Customers may be interested in speakers not correctly paired with the amplifier, a projector that can’t handle the screen size they want or not putting the right parts and pieces together for a surround sound system. We find that those customers contact our stores for professional advice.
And while many of them visit, there’s a good chunk of them that don’t. They just want to know that they’re talking with a real human being who knows what they’re doing and can give them true customer service over the phone. So being able to have a hybrid model that offers system design and integration, high-end retail for customers that want to come in and talk with someone, as well as people that want to add a pair of headphones to their cart but know that they have support when they run into questions or problems, that’s what we focus on at World Wide Stereo and Gramophone.
We’re even bringing our technology to you with our new mobile demo van, offering backyard showcases of landscape audio, lighting and more, transforming how and where clients experience what we do.
Photo courtesy of Rebecca McAlpin
Doug: The companies are long-time members of CEDIA and have a rich history in systems integration. Talk about that evolution.
Andrew: Our system integration business started as home systems grew outside of a single zone in the home. So, as automation systems became more sought after, Crestron, Control4, Savant, URC, these brands tied ecosystems together. We needed to become very proficient and excel at having the best programmers and staff that could deploy these systems, design and engineer them, and ultimately support them. These systems are incredibly complex, and the networks they’re required to operate on, and the user interfaces are forever changing.
Therefore, the apps need constant updating. We have to employ the best in our field, and finding folks who specialize in this field is not easy. Gramophone and World Wide Stereo pulled together some of the most intelligent people in our industry. We’re proud to have them and we’re always looking for more of them. The demand is very real.
Another part of our evolution is our work and collaboration with the design-build community. We don’t compete with the design-build world, we act as a strategic resource for them and support and elevate it. We partner with them to educate them on cool new products, making sure that they understand how these things interface and can blend beautifully with their designs. We love these alliances and work with many discerning custom home builders.
It’s our job to come in there, meet with the customer, understand the design vision, and ensure our products don’t take away from that. Our job is to enhance the vision of the architect or designer, never override it. That means seamless gear integration, invisible technology where it makes sense, and showpieces where desired. Too frequently, the A/V guy comes in and has no eye for design, really tramples all over a design without understanding what went into it. Our team is trained to work with that design and understand how to ensure we don’t detract from its core objective.
Whether it’s blending beauty and performance with speakers that mimic architectural lighting or an audio system as stunning as a baby grand, we make technology a seamless part of the space or invisible when needed. Some customers want to see gorgeous equipment such as McIntosh amplifiers and Sonus Faber speakers, and others don’t want to see anything.
Our team specializes in determining exactly what makes a project tick, what the designer or architect is looking for, and what the homeowner ultimately wants to achieve.
Photo courtesy of Rebecca McAlpin
Doug: You’ve always been at the forefront of the retail experience and how best to present smart home technologies. You have a new Experience Center opening in September under the World Wide Stereo banner in Wayne, PA. Please walk us through your vision of the perfect smart home technology retail experience.
Andrew: One of the strongest stories I can share is from our vendor partner Sonance, and they tell a story that asks, “How do you want your sound to look?” Gramophone’s Experience Center, which was launched a few years ago, was a way to say, “We will display a gorgeous music system that people want to put in their homes, point to, and say, ‘isn’t that incredible!’” We will also have a space with invisible speakers and hide all the technology for those who want the right vibe without impacting their designed space.
We designed a space to appeal to designers, architects and home builders so that when we host events with them or customers doing a remodeling project or building a new home, they see gorgeous systems that they can envision in their own designs.
And then back to “how do you want your sound to look?” I can give you these invisible speakers in a bathroom, dining room or kitchen. I can provide you with small-aperture speakers in an area where you spent so much on lighting that you don’t want a bunch of eight-inch speakers to clutter up the ceiling. Small-aperture speakers mimic the exact look of your lights, so if you have four-inch downlights, we integrate four-inch speaker openings to give your ceiling a clean, uncluttered look. And then in an area where you want to have something that’s a differentiator, we can give you a gorgeous pair of Sonos faber freestanding speakers.
Our customers want something extraordinary. They appreciate excellent construction and have an eye for design. So many customers want to enjoy great music and entertainment in their homes. But what’s broken in our industry’s retail environment is that it’s presented to them in a room with ugly rugs, horrible furnishings, and old, dingy fixtures. That’s precisely where we differ. Our Experience Centers are design-focused, but the core always comes back to music.
Our new Wayne, PA flagship, a converted, iconic Starbucks, is a design-first Experience Center that invites clients and trade partners to explore what’s possible. You walk through the front door, and the first thing you see is a 163-inch video display from Just Video Walls, complemented by a Theory Audio Design sound system that is completely hidden. This is jaw-dropping in its grandeur. You’ll pivot to the right where we feature Macintosh and Sonos faber, then a gorgeous fireplace with a Sony TV and a Leon Frame soundbar. More vignettes feature exceptional products, with Control4, Crestron Home control, automation demos, and Lutron Ketra intelligent lighting throughout. It features a high-end two-channel room, invisible speaker installs, statement systems, a projection theater, and a multi-zone smart home showcase. It is an incredible space, and our customers will be excited to visit.
We’re also seeing exciting developments in emerging categories. Soundbars, once considered a budget afterthought, now reach $15K–$20K and deliver design-forward, high-impact audio experiences that are transforming expectations. We’re already working with custom installations of Micro-LED walls. This ultra-premium display technology is breaking the boundaries of what home entertainment can be. And through brands like Theory Audio, we deliver professional-grade sound systems that outperform expectations, bringing Pro Audio quality to the home environment.
Another big announcement about the new World Wide Stereo Experience Center is the recent news about David Solomon joining our team. David is an industry veteran, one of the nicest gentlemen in the business, and passionate about high-fidelity sound.
In his new role, David will bridge marketing, events and content creation in ways the industry hasn’t seen before. One of the most exciting initiatives he’s bringing to life is a series of cross-brand, customer-facing events, unique gatherings designed to bring music lovers, vendors and top-tier audio brands together in meaningful ways.
With a proven history of connecting with audiences through live shows and digital platforms, David will also launch a regular video podcast series. The first season will focus on streaming, guiding listeners through the technology, services and sound quality that define the modern music experience.
David’s presence at special events and his involvement with our marketing teams will help create a more personal, immersive and entertaining connection with our customers. His goal is to position Gramophone and World Wide Stereo as standout destinations in a crowded marketplace, not just for the products we offer, but for the community and energy we build around them.
David’s first event in his new role was the Bowers & Wilkins Abbey Road 801 D4 world premiere at Gramophone and World Wide Stereo, where he hosted a session covering 75 years of recorded music through Hi-Res streaming. This special event echoed the signature Flash DJ sessions David pioneered across the globe during his time with Qobuz and Tidal, bringing music history to life through cutting-edge technology and expertly curated tracks.
Photo courtesy of Rebecca McAlpin
Doug: Final thoughts?
Andrew: Our creativity is always evolving, from how we design and change up our showrooms to how we shape the customer experience. By leveraging the strengths and best practices of both companies, we’re able to differentiate ourselves and stay ahead of the curve in technology, design and service. We’re constantly pushing boundaries, and I encourage others to challenge us and come up with your own cool ways to get people excited about the immersive spaces we create.
Douglas Weinstein is the Co-Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Technology Designer Magazine and the Technology Insider Group, as well as a Partner at TIG Global PR. A thirty-year veteran of the consumer technology industry, he is the Co-Founder and past Executive Director of the Elf Foundation, a non-profit organization creating Room of Magic entertainment theaters in children’s hospitals across North America.
