Freedman Group (Rode, Mackie, etc) acquires Lectrosonics

[codyman]

Well the good news in all of this is that at least Lectro was acquired by someone who isn't just some venture capital / hedge fund-ish "pillage the village and sell the parts off" type conglomerate for a change.

[Jim Feeley]

21 hours ago, Johnny Karlsson said:

 I don’t understand why some of you seem to be wishing for Lectro to start releasing some kind of cheapo stuff.

If you want low-cost plastic prosumer stuff, there is plenty to choose from already.

 

I don't know if we're wishing...but seems like there's opportunity, and probably more opportunity in the space between Lectro's and Rode's current 2.4GHz offerings than there is in Lectro's current space.

 

Doesn't mean we (or at least I) want Lectro to stop making higher-end stuff. 

[edward chick]

Long time Lectro user, looking forward to what they come up with . I sometimes use Rode Wireless Go II for hops on sit down interviews or movi cam type setups. Never would think of using them for critical ENG or doc apps especially for range. That is where Lectro has made their rep and are worth the extra dough. If they can make a receiver/transmitter combo that allows you to change freqs on the fly from the receiver like Shure ADX5D that would be killer. 

[IronFilm]

  

7 hours ago, r.paterson said:

I am biased as a Lectro user.. But I still think now it will be a very good thing..look what happened to Aaton. If they had a friendly take over things could have been different..the guy wants to go places with Lectro as a top end product, the elephant in the room is, Lectro need to get over the Patent tx/rec issue for EU users tho, outside of feature film work,  all EU radio mic users need it as a norm now. 

Well, I think we're only a few short years away from the patent finally expiring?

But now that Lectrosonics is "an Australian company", I think (note: am not a lawyer, I only LARP as one on the internet) there is a pathway they could start doing this immediately if they wish? 

Because if they choose to then they could do all their manufacturing in Australia for their non-American sales (while keeping production in America for American sales), thus completely avoiding the American legal system and their onerous requirements? Because none of the manufacturing or sales would be done in the USA for their non-USA sales. 

[LarryF]

As an indication of the Freedman Group's  intentions for Lectrosonics, the Human Resources Dept has been tasked with hiring more Design Engineers, as many as 7 total.

See:

https://lectrosonics.com/careers/

 

Best Regards,

Larry Fisher

[Derek H]

That’s great to hear. It’s interesting reading over the job postings. Seems like a nice place to work!

[karlw]

To add to what Larry posted, there are numerous different positions currently available at Lectrosonics including machinists, assemblers, test operators, accounting, and several others. 

 

https://lectrosonics.com/careers/

 

-Karl

 

 

[IronFilm]

20 hours ago, karlw said:

https://lectrosonics.com/careers/

Now that Lectrosonics is technically kinda-ish sort of "an Australian company" I was hoping beyond all hope to see engineering positions listed in Australia 😞 Ah well, I can't work in America! But I could in Oz.

[The Documentary Sound Guy]

6 hours ago, IronFilm said:

Ah well, I can't work in America! But I could in Oz.

Interesting.  Can NZ nationals work in Australia?  Or you are dual?

[The Immoral Mr Teas]

8 hours ago, IronFilm said:

Now that Lectrosonics is technically kinda-ish sort of "an Australian company" I was hoping beyond all hope to see engineering positions listed in Australia 😞 Ah well, I can't work in America! But I could in Oz.

 

You could probably still work elsewhere with Freedman too

(post brexit we can't work anywhere any longer ...)

[IronFilm]

On 6/5/2025 at 6:47 AM, The Documentary Sound Guy said:

Interesting.  Can NZ nationals work in Australia?  Or you are dual?

It is ridiculously easy for a Kiwi to work in Australia (or for an Aussie to work in NZ). Essentially when it comes to getting employed, a NZer is identical to an Australian when it comes to our right to work.

 

Of course an Australian Citzen and NZ Citizen are still two different things, even if living in Australia then I still can't vote for MPs to represent me in the Australian Parliament, or if I lost my job in Australia then I can't go on the dole in Australia. Just to give a couple of examples. 

[axel]

Lectrosonics stands for ultimate reliability, but they are equally responsive if somethings fails. Everybody know, they are reachable and react very quickly @reasonable time and cost. But being responsive and listening to customers is expensive. Many companies are forced to cut costs here, once they are taken over by a bigone. On the long run, this could be a threat to Lectro, but I wish (also for myself) that they will stick to their policy which makes them standing out.

[Spin360]

On 5/14/2025 at 2:35 PM, IronFilm said:

This is a worthwhile watch, an interview with the new owner of Lectro:

 

 

Madam, please look at the road whilest steering a 2 ton metal death machine.
Car interviews seem very irresponsible to me.

 

 

On 5/15/2025 at 3:05 AM, IronFilm said:

  But now that Lectrosonics is "an Australian company", I think (note: am not a lawyer, I only LARP as one on the internet) there is a pathway they could start doing this immediately if they wish? 

Because if they choose to then they could do all their manufacturing in Australia for their non-American sales (while keeping production in America for American sales), thus completely avoiding the American legal system and their onerous requirements?

 

I've recently heard this as well and it seems plausible to me.

I wonder how Zaxcom will deal with the very strong competition once their patent runs out. IMO they need to refine their products much more to stay competitive.

[Dejan Ceko]

 

[NielsN]

On 6/14/2025 at 7:58 AM, axel said:

But being responsive and listening to customers is expensive. Many companies are forced to cut costs here, once they are taken over by a bigone.

Just for the record. RØDE has been ultra responsive on the few occasions I had support requests (on products costing a fraction of Lectrosonics').

[ramallo]

RIP Lectrosonics (Considering what that company has done with Soundfield and Fuzzmeasure)