About Us

Gary leads the charge at SVS with a passionate, hands-on approach backed by a tireless work ethic. His leadership is critical to all aspects of product development, engineering, customer service, operations, marketing and sales and he works closely with each department to make sure they are invested in the SVS mission and resourced appropriately. A fierce proponent of accountability and the customer-first mentality, Gary interacts with SVS dealers, owners and potential customers every day through social media, email and other channels. With more than 25 years invested in consumer electronics on the retail and corporate side, Gary is an industry icon who always has his finger on the pulse of SVS and the audio industry in general. Gary’s retail experience got him into lots of people's homes, where he learned up close how they use and enjoy technology. His manufacturing experience taught him the best practices for designing and building world-class products, but he has always been an enthusiast with a love for audio and home theater above all else, which has helped him the most at SVS. Gary currently lives in Maryland with his wife and has two sons, one of which is headed off to college. He also has two dogs and most enjoys the thrill of live music during his free time, a sonic sensation which he tries to capture with every SVS audio product. Gary has served on the Executive Board of the Consumer Technology Association (CTA), the organization that holds International CES is Las Vegas. As a past Chair, his appointment marked the first time in the Association's history that a CE retail executive had taken a senior leadership position with its Board. He is Past Chair of CTA’s Division Executive Board, the governing body of all of that Association’s Divisions, and is currently serving on CTA’s Audio Division Board. Gary has served on numerous committees and industry panels for the Association and others in the Consumer Electronics industry and has also served on the advisory boards of several audio/video manufacturers. Gary has been featured as a commentator on local Washington, DC television news programs, and has been frequently quoted in The Washington Post and Washingtonian magazine on consumer electronics topics, as well as in numerous industry trade magazines. He also has a regular column in Dealerscope Magazine.

Dan started at SVS in 2002 building subwoofers in the garage that the company then occupied. No one on the planet knows more about what it takes to build and bring to market a high performance subwoofer. Dan manages operations in our Youngstown, Ohio headquarters and supervises quality control that occurs almost to the molecular level. He also makes sure SVS keeps all of its promises to you by managing all aspects of logistics, web site management, international sales, senior level management and more. During his time at SVS, Dan shown a remarkable ability to adapt and overcome any challenges presented to him. He is the perpetual MVP. Dan lives in Ohio with his loyal German Shepard, Cabo. When he’s not getting huge at the gym, he can be found sipping a craft beer and watching the Buckeyes or cooking up a meal for a crowd to enjoy. A good word to describe his sense of humor would be “edgy”. He also likes baking.

An SVS veteran who has helped more SVS customers than all others combined, Ed has a wide-ranging set of roles and responsibilities at SVS. As the Director of Customer Service, Ed manages the SVS team of Sound Experts – which is responsible for all USA direct sales and worldwide support of all SVS products. A true SVS brand ambassador, Ed is the long-standing and respected 'face of SVS' in the A/V forums and blogs, providing product support and technical contributions in the areas of in-room measurements, room acoustics/sound treatments and A/V set-up and digital bass management. As the Director of Technology, Ed has authored many technical articles and white papers for publication on the SVS website, social media outlets and external e-zines. Ed also assists in the development of website copy and other product literature to ensure technical accuracy. A licensed professional engineer, Ed is a key technical resource for the SVS Product Development team and plays an important role in the design and development of all SVS subwoofers – helping to ensure SVS’s position in the marketplace as an innovative, forward-facing and high-tech audio company. Ed enjoys a number of manly pursuits including archery, drag racing, knife collecting, bow hunting, precision long-range shooting and muscle cars. He is also a state certified hunter safety instructor and an accomplished woodsman. His musical tastes include classic rock and modern country – and his favorite video genres are sci-fi/fantasy and action.

Smith is responsible for the engineering and design of all SVS products. A long time audio enthusiast with advanced degrees in Physics and Acoustics, Smith is one of the younger audio design veteran’s who is making a big impression in the speaker and subwoofer world. Smith's passion for high performance audio combined with his extensive acoustic and mechanical engineering experience are applied on a daily basis to ensure every SVS product meets the highest standards of design excellence. Beyond audio, Smith has been an avid rock climber for nearly two decades. Climbing, like engineering, is a technical and involved activity full of calculated decisions to find the most efficient way to the top. Like those who take an interest in sound quality, climbers have a deep passion and love for the activity which completely engages and transports them to new locations with amazing experiences.

With extensive experience in all aspects of audio-product development, Jack works closely with Smith Freeman on the design and engineering of all SVS speakers and subwoofers. His advanced degrees in engineering management, mechanical engineering, and acoustics have served him well in senior-level positions at several prominent audio companies in Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and China, which thoroughly prepared him to join the SVS product-design team. Like many SVS team members, Jack is an avid musician, playing drums in a Hong Kong-based band. He also taught himself to play upright bass, and he spends a lot of time in his basement studio creating electronic beats and other jams with Ableton Live, a popular digital-audio workstation program.

Nick is the resident wordsmith and creative spark behind nearly all of the social media posts, website copy, advertisements, blog entries and other pieces of SVS content. He is also the chief liaison who works with media to set up reviews, launch new products, contribute to articles, manage contests and help with whatever they need. He’s also the driving force behind the SVS featured home theaters, so if you have a great system, you might just get a note from him. In his spare time, Nick spends his time shuttling his 11 year-old son to karate and trumpet practice, cooking gourmet meals with his wife or walking the family puggle. Nick’s passion for audio began with his grandfather who used to sip scotch and spin vinyl while they watched baseball games together. This experience gave Nick an early interest in sound quality and understanding the technology behind audio reproduction, which he combined with his love of writing to land a dream career.

Ken Kadis is the key point person between SVS and its growing number of U.S. retailers. He makes sure our partners selling through brick-and-mortar storefronts have all the product, technical and marketing support they need and he also does frequent trainings to share the SVS vision. Kadis has been in the AV industry for nearly three decades and has opened many doors for SVS during his time onboard. Ken is also self-taught drummer, whose “teachers” have been the many drummers whose recordings he listened to through many great audio systems, and continue to enjoy today. When he’s not on the road making the SVS community stronger, Ken, loves spending time with his family, working on his chef skills and of course banging on his drums.

A seasoned audio industry veteran who has represented top global brands such as Klipsch and KEF, Handrup leads international sales for SVS, which represents the fastest growing segment of the SVS business. His tenacious work ethic, detail-oriented approach and extensive connections make Handrup one of the top professionals in his field, which has helped fuel the rise of SVS into a major worldwide audio player with distribution to nearly 50 countries and growing. Day-to-day, Thomas manages the negotiation and implementation of all product line reviews (assortment, pricing, terms, etc.) with channel partners to best position SVS for success in markets that vary wildly from country to country. He leads regularly scheduled business planning sessions with customers to ensure consistent alignment and support of goals around merchandising, promotion planning, and supply chain management to ensure SVS products are always available. Handrup also works closely with the SVS marketing team to develop strategic customer business plans and promotional strategies that increase sales volumes and market share. At home, Handrup has a massive and diverse vinyl collection that ranges from Japanese pop to Duran Duran and a wide range of classical music, which he frequently enjoys with his wife over a glass of wine. He also attends multiple live concerts per year and loves to travel. Thomas also has two sons.

As the office manager, Monique often serves as the cement holding a lot of other pieces in place and making sure nothing ever slips. Her work handling day to day operations at the SVS Ohio headquarters includes managing dealer relationships with U.S. and international partners, handling special shipping requests, updating the outlet page, inventory management and working with the warehouse to make sure everyone gets their products on time. Outside of work, Monique spends a lot of her time seeking new adventures with her five year-old daughter Ava and watching movies together on lazy nights. Some of their favorites are Frozen, the Wizard of Oz and The Incredible Hulk. Monique is also a winning marathoner and the undisputed distance running champion at SVS.

Beginning in the dark depths of the SVS basement, Eli started out with the company as part of the small crew that hand assemble our infamous subwoofer drivers. With a rational approach to problem solving and a keen eye for detail, Eli branched to other assembly projects and key roles in assisting the work of our Engineering and R&D departments. These days, Eli helps to maintain the harmony of the daily operations of SVS. From keeping up with order fulfillment and the personnel that fill those orders, to maintaining a lot of our digital presence, he has the honor of wearing many hats for SVS.

Larry is a consumer electronics industry veteran of more than 20+, coming from a retail sales and training background. He’s responsible for educating our retail partners across the country and sharing his passion for the brand with everyone he encounters. You’ll find him in one of our partner stores from coast to coast any day of the week working with their sales staff to ensure that they are ready for consumers to come in and get the full SVS Experience. Larry is an avid Cinephile and loves spending his evenings on the road at movie theaters across the country, and in his Home Theaters as well. For those rare times he’s not on the road, he loves to just be home with his wife, three boys, and five dogs. When they’re not out and about, you’ll find the family playing video games on new consoles, retro consoles or on their custom arcade that they built together. Their known in the neighborhood as “that Christmas light house,” and display 50,000+ LED lights on their house, synchronized to music and broadcast over FM for people to enjoy in their cars. He’s also become quite the barbeque connoisseur, and can be found in front of his smoker every weekend.

As the lead graphic designer, Jason is responsible for the visualization of the SVS brand through any number of assets including the website, print ads, landing pages, display ads and more. He also has extensive coding knowledge and assists the marketing team with SVS site maintenance, navigation and other parts of the digital experience. Jason’s spare time is spent building a house nearly on his own from what was essentially a stud shell, something he’s always wanted to do. He is also the owner of Rufio, a 140lb all white German shepherd who is often mistaken for a wolf right out of the wild. But the ladies love him. Jason is also into some of the finer things in life, including: tattoos, music, movies, motorcycles, whiskey, craft beer, and cooking.