Fairview Heights, IL (February 7, 2022)—Pro audio manufacturer Heil Sound has been transferred to its current management team, the company announced today. Bob and Sarah Heil have transferred ownership to current president and CEO, Ash Levitt, and director of Operations, Steve Warford. While Sarah Heil has retired, Bob will continue to do outreach work and product design within the amateur radio space under the title Founder and CEO Emeritus.
Founded in 1966 by Bob Heil, the company quickly made its mark in the early 1970s, building a new P.A. for the Grateful Dead, which Heil ran on tour for them. He soon provided the same services for other classic rock acts like The Who, ZZ Top, BTO, The J. Giles Band and Chuck Berry, among others. Simultaneously, the company developed the Heil Talk Box, which became a trademark sound of the era for numerous guitarists, particularly Peter Frampton, who used it to great effect on his 11-milion-selling Frampton Comes Alive album. Leaving tour audio behind in the 1980s, Heil Sound shifted to the ham radio marketplace before eventually returning to live sound manufacturing in the late 1990s with the introduction of the PR 20 microphone. Today, Heil Sound offers a variety of microphones for everything from live sound to broadcast to podcasting.
View from the Top: Ash Levitt, Heil Sound
Heil said, “My life has been about achieving great sound, whether on the concert stage or in the amateur radio world. I’ve watched Heil Sound go from a regional sound company to a world-class microphone manufacturer. This company has been my passion, but it is time for me to step aside. There is no better team to carry the company forward than Ash and Steve, and I have the utmost confidence in them.”
Both Levitt and Warford started working with Heil Sound as teenagers, building and packaging products. Levitt worked in academia for a number of years, but continued to regularly consult with Heil Sound during that time. He returned to the company full-time in 2017 and assumed the role of president in 2020. Warford worked his way up in the company during his tenure and has been responsible for daily operations for the past several years.
“Steve and I are honored to carry forward the legacy of Heil Sound,” Levitt responded. “We care very deeply about Heil Sound’s role in the industry and intend to build on that going forward with new products and greater distribution. An important part of the role that we pride ourselves on is the connection we have with professional end users. As a musician and former broadcaster, I have spent a lot of time on stages and in studios in front of a microphone, and understand our users’ needs. Everyone at Heil Sound shares a passion for what we do because it helps others achieve their creative endeavors.”
