Private company

Cambridge SoundWorks

Logo: Cambridge SoundWorks, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons3

Consumer hi-fi audio company

Cambridge SoundWorks was a Massachusetts-based consumer audio manufacturer and retailer.2 It was founded by Henry Kloss.1 Wikipedia text CC BY-SA 4.0

Last updated Oct 21, 2026.

Overview

1988Founded1
CambridgeFPS2000
Photo: Duveltje97, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons5

Cambridge SoundWorks was a Massachusetts-based consumer audio manufacturer and retailer.2

The story

Founded by Henry Kloss in 1988.1

Cambridge SoundWorks was co-founded in 1988 by Henry Kloss, an audio engineer and businessman, and colleague Tom DeVesto. Kloss had founded or co-founded a number of earlier loudspeaker and consumer audio companies, including Acoustic Research, KLH and Advent Corporation.

It was founded with the specific mission to design and manufacture well-priced, high quality, high performance loudspeakers and audio products to be marketed directly to the consumer. From its inception, the company's success was significant and its products received critical acclaim.

Cambridge SoundWorks began offering its products (such as the Ensemble I, II, and III satellite speaker systems) by catalog and multi-page magazine advertisements. In 1991, the company opened its first retail location in Newton, Massachusetts. In 1994 it sold its first products on the Internet, using the CompuServe network. This made it one of the first companies to sell consumer electronics on the Internet.

The formula developed in its first store proved successful and eventually spawned the opening of 30 showrooms in New England and metropolitan San Francisco.

In 1997 Cambridge Soundworks was bought by then Creative Labs.

Eventually, Cambridge SoundWorks manufactured over 60 different models of home stereo, home theater, multimedia speakers and assorted electronics products. Its products were designed in California, with Research and Development and Acoustic Engineering in Massachusetts. These products, along with other major brands of high-performance audio and video components, were sold through an online store.

As of February 2018, the Cambridge Soundworks website redirects to theoontz.com, where a product line of portable bluetooth speakers is sold.

From Wikipedia’s article on Cambridge SoundWorks, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4

Leadership

Who has led Cambridge SoundWorks, and when. Pick a name to see everywhere that person has worked.

Products and brands

  • consumer electronics

Listed on Wikidata.1

Timeline

  1. 1988Founded Founded1

Sources

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