Up to the late seventies, Canada was substantially perceived as an economic satellite of giant North American neighbour, USA. Interestingly, its entrepreneurs have since erased this notion, by rapidly becoming sustainable amidst fierce global competition. One of the main reasons may be that the Canadian Government has enacted policies for assisting its manufacturers and exporters to achieve and maintain competitiveness. For example, subsidised R & D facilities are available to them at the National Research Council (NRC).

"The NRC was established in 1916 under the pressure of World War I to advise the government on matters of science and industrial research. In 1932, laboratories were built on Sussex Drive in Ottawa. More recently, the NRC has been highly influential in the field of audio. A great deal of research at the NRC has gone into the designs of many popular speakers from Canadian speaker manufacturers like Energy Loudspeakers and Paradigm Electronics. Some of their research has also influenced speaker designs around the world".

Sanch has been closely associated with many prestigious Canadian audio companies from 1982. These include Oracle, Classé Audio and the aforementioned Paradigm. There is no doubt that Canadians have begun to dominate the universal audiophile market. In June 1995, a late colleague and friend, Allan Russo, formally introduced me to NAD Electronics and PSB Loudspeakers, of the Lenbrook International conglomerate. Thereafter, Sanch proudly became an official distributor for both of these companies.

In 2008, I began an association with another Canadian cluster, this time in the field of Journalism. “The Soundstage! Network is the world's largest group of online publications and resources dedicated to covering consumer-based speciality audio and video products. We are also the oldest and most respected -- we started publishing in 1995.

"The SoundStage! Network currently has four publications related to speciality audio and video. These are online based, but like print media, each new issue is released on the 1st of each month that contains equipment reviews, music and video reviews, feature articles, and more. A secondary update is made on the 15th of each month, and letters as well as other queries are published throughout the month to keep the content fresh".

Having met Editor-in-chief Jeffrey W. Fritz very serendipitously online, he invited me to become a contributor to one of the Network’s publications, ultraaudio. I have tried to hone my writing skills with nine feature articles in Jeff’s esteemed magazine, beginning April 2008.

Simeon L. Sandiford
Managing Director