Eminence
Eminence Speakers
In 1966, Bob Gault founded Eminence Speakers in Eminence, Kentucky, after working as an engineer for Magnavox and CTS (Chicago Telephone Supply). Ironically, Gault started the company hoping to maintain three 18" speakers per day, based on a commitment from Ampeg's Everett Hull. He far exceeded that goal.
Eminence, population 3000, is centrally located in the heart of Kentucky, between Louisville, Lexington, and Cincinnati, Ohio. He chose this location as it was ideally situated for shipping products all over the USA. The Eminence and Henry County community could also provide the labor required to design and assemble high-quality loudspeakers on a large scale. The first Eminence facility, located in downtown Eminence, employed around thirty people. In 1972 Eminence Speaker moved to a new location in Shawnee Industrial Park on Mulberry Pike, where we remain today.
Under the leadership of Gault and, more recently, his son, Rob, the company's capacity grew to as much as 10,000 speakers per day, employing over 240 people by 1997. Bob Gault was the president of Eminence until he officially retired in 1993, but he continued to make valuable contributions to the company. He passed away on October 4, 2002. He was a husband, father, and grandfather.
In September 2023, Rob Gault and his family decided to sell Eminence to B&C Speakers, a prominent loudspeaker manufacturer based in Florence, Italy. The B&C Speakers Group focuses on the loudspeaker market. They have firmly committed to investing in modernizing the Kentucky factory and adding vital research and development resources, world-class sourcing, and global distribution connectivity that will benefit Eminence in the years ahead.