The NEAR® Outdoor Heritage

PictureBozak Bard
New England Audio Resource (N.E.A.R.) was founded by Bill Kieltyka, a former engineer with the legendary high-end speaker company Bozak, a company known for its innovative curvilinear aluminum speaker cones and the world’s first high quality, full range, residential outdoor loudspeaker - the Bard. 
PictureN.E.A.R. AE-1 installed at the weather station on Mt. Washington, New Hampshire USA (circa 1990)
After leaving Bozak, Bill founded New England Audio Resource in 1988 and designed the company’s first product – the outdoor AEL (All Environment Loudspeaker), featuring, of course, aluminum cone woofers. The AEL series was a big success in residential and commercial applications including Universal Studio’s Jurassic Park® and Islands of Adventure® theme parks, as well as atop New Hampshire’s Mt. Washington, a place reputed to “enjoy” the worst weather in North America.   
In 1997, the audio quality and weather resistance of N.E.A.R speakers caught the attention of Bogen Communications, Inc. Bogen recognized the advantages of the N.E.A.R technology for their commercial applications, and acquired the company with Bill continuing as the lead designer for NEAR-branded products.

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Today, the NEAR® designs take advantage of over 28 years of single-minded dedicated development of outdoor loudspeakers.  From frigid mountain-tops, to high-humidity Central America, NEAR speakers have seen it all.  They have been exposed to (and survived) indoor pools with high chlorine content, fertilizer spray, bug and animal infestations.  All were learning experiences that advanced the state of outdoor sound art. Bill and the team analyzed every part failure over the decades and said, “we can do better,” and they did! Today’s NEAR products are the beneficiaries of decades of past successes and failures. Bill and his team never stop striving to make NEAR speakers even better sounding and more rugged. 

One listen and you'll hear why music lovers agree that NEAR speakers offer an ideal combination of performance, durability and value.