Partners

Chris Byrne’s immersion in hi-fi and his habit of listening to customers came from his retail and merchandising days at Pacific Stereo. Chris held positions with Pioneer Electronics and Akai before co-founding NHT in 1986 with Ken Kantor. NHT was Byrne’s vision and, with the exception of 3 years in the late 1990’s, he has led the Company since its inception. Byrne is widely regarded in the industry as a product visionary, responsible for the introduction of the industry’s first CD changer (Pioneer) and a key player in the early development of the Home Theater concept. Chris is still listening to customers and plays guitar and closely manages Sadie, NHT’s head of security.

John Johnsen joined NHT in 1990 in sales. He is responsible for the growth achieved in the 1990’s and is known as one of the industry’s most talented marketing and sales executives. John’s background prior to NHT came as merchandiser for Macy’s, and positions at dB Audio in Berkeley and The Federated Group. He has been instrumental in creating the unique “voice” of NHT over the years, as well as transferring that voice to our Web site. John is the resident geek and company drummer and percussionist. John is a Mac.

Frank Sadowski joined NHT on September 1, 2009. He has had a highly successful career as a merchant and executive and for over 10 years has been deeply involved in consumer electronics e-commerce. Frank was an early employee at 800.com and went on to lead Amazon.com’s e-retailing efforts in consumer electronics. Most recently he was EVP Global Business Development for D&M Holdings where he conceptualized and executed a loudspeaker e-commerce site (thespeakercompany.com) and brand (tSc). Frank plays guitar and harmonica, sometimes simultaneously.

Alina Cardozo is our numbers and money wiz woman. She joined NHT in 2008 as the accounting manager. She works in our cloud – Netsuite, to slice and dice all AR/AP/GL functions. She manages payroll (send chocolate) and the maintenance of all NHT financial records. She has 20 + years of related accounting, production, supervisory and managerial experience as it relates to the daily operation of business. She has the ability to change your age and gender. She completed her Bachelors of Science in Business Administration with the University of Phoenix. She is also a Ninja in the kitchen and likes black furniture.

Jay Doherty joined NHT in 1997 after seeing an ad on the DIY Bass List (for a position in the marketing department!) A long time audio hobbyist, he worked as a mechanical engineer doing automotive design and movie special effects before taking over mechanical engineering duties at NHT. He slowly began to master acoustical design, and by the early 2000s was responsible for crossover design for all NHT products (and has been responsible for voicing almost every speaker since that time). He is now director of engineering and oversees all aspects of the design and production of NHT products.

Antonio Lopez joined the extended NHT family in 1996 as the production Manager for Acoustic Research Division. He later defected to NHT in late 1999/2000 because he liked black gloss speakers. Antonio has proved over and over again he is the smartest guy in the company. One day, he took the warehouse and logistics part of the business as his domain. We call Antonio the Distribution/Warehouse manager and accessory buyer but he is more than that. NHT could not function on a daily basis without his voodoo.

Gordon Chang has had a lifelong passion for audio and especially speakers. Gordon studied audio, electronics, and mountain biking at Cal Poly University San Luis Obispo. He started working for NHT in 2004. “It’s been the best company ever to work for” says Gordon (the meds will wear off soon). When he’s not designing audio stuff, you can find him out on the water catching big air on my kiteboard. Gordon makes sure we play well and sound good.

Bob Hopkins grew up in the Midwest with a fond interest in guitars and art. He later earned a degree in industrial design from the University of Cincinnati. The week after graduation he took a job in Mississippi at Peavey designing pro audio products and soaking up some delta blues. Eight years later (circa 1995) he started doing freelance design for NHT, and that led to a full time job as NHT’s industrial designer. He now provides design services and customer service support. Bob is one of those guys that took a few years of his life off to play guitar and is a certified guitar shredder.

Sadie is a Lab/Poodle mix, with a black gloss coat (what else?). Joined the Company in May, 2009. Responsible for showroom and office security, customer greeting and occasional begging. Singer. Sadie likes squeaky toys and runs on the beach.