History - Renkus-Heinz

A 45-Year Legacy of Innovation

Founded in 1979, Renkus-Heinz began in earnest when Harro Heinz and Algis Renkus registered the corporation in California. A few years later, Heinz bought his partner out of the business and went on to build a visionary organization that changed the way we experience sound.

Heinz spearheaded the company for four decades, raising the benchmark for high-quality audio excellence with his entrepreneurial spirit and electronics expertise.

Thanks to Heinz’s innovations and inventions, Renkus-Heinz became – and remains – synonymous with premium sound to this day.

Harro Heinz, Founder

The original factory at Airport circle

Our first delivery truck

The back area - assembly and testing

Sonic Concepts

Harro’s son, Ralph Heinz, joined the company early on as a trained mechanical engineer who Harro says “has a natural talent for understanding acoustics.” Patents for innovations such as TRAP (True Array Principle) and CoEntrant technologies are a testament to Ralph’s ingenuity and helped establish Renkus-Heinz as a key player and known innovator in the pro audio sphere.

Ralph is also credited with developing some of the most advanced digital beam-steering solutions on the market today. Renkus-Heinz developed the very first UniBeam – an algorithm that crafts asymmetric beams and utilizes the entire array for all frequencies – which later served as the foundation for OmniBeam, a true revolution in beam-steering workflow that instantly generates custom-tailored audio for any space. With these recent advancements, Renkus-Heinz continues its mission to put the power of advanced, high-quality audio in the hands of more people than ever before.

These innovations, along with other unique concepts like Complex Conic horns and Reference Point Arrays, are the foundation of Renkus-Heinz’s well-established reputation for sonic excellence today.

Customer Centric, Planet Conscious

Another key ingredient in the Renkus-Heinz story is the company’s unique ability to deliver customized, built-to-order products on an off-the-shelf time schedule.

This expedient, tailored approach is made possible by our purpose-built manufacturing facility at our company headquarters in Foothill Ranch, California. Renkus-Heinz still designs, prototypes and manufactures the vast majority of our products in house at our California facility.

Our commitment to manufacturing in California has benefits across every step of our production and supply chain; we abide by world’s most stringent air pollution regulations, and we’re committed to upholding standards with regards to storm-water run-off, lighting and electricity usage, electronics recycling and more – and so are our local suppliers.

Renkus-Heinz is always looking for ways to create a better future for all. We remain proudly committed to upholding the highest standards of quality, ethics and sustainability in our manufacturing.

Electronics department, 1979

Harro at 1980s trade show

Original MR1 Smart System

Ralph's first speaker design, the C2

Family Focused

Harro Heinz retired in 2022, but the Heinz family still spearheads the company to this day: Monika Smetona, Harro’s daughter and our former COO, serves as company president, working alongside Ralph Heinz as Chief Technology Officer to lead the company into the future. Three generations of the Heinz family are involved in all aspects of the business, from administration to engineering to manufacturing – all of which still occur in-house at our Orange County headquarters. The company also continues to maintain a familial work atmosphere, with 20- and 30-year work anniversaries a regular occurrence.

The Future

In December 2019, Renkus-Heinz co-founder Harro Heinz turned 90 years old. After his 90th birthday party, he discussed a few components of his vision for the future of the company:

Artificial Intelligence is coming to professional audio sooner than we expect. “We will very soon see a speaker that can be installed in a room and immediately configure itself to provide optimal sound,” Heinz said. “The technology to digitally steer sound will soon be considered the standard because of how effectively it can be placed in a space.”
The focus will be increasingly on the audience. “When we look at the industry today we still see a lot of focus on the performers or the product,” Heinz said. “That’s important, of course, as you have to have great content. But more important is that we look at the audience we serve, understand what they want, and deliver impressive experiences to them. Positioning sound with precision – and putting it on the audience – positions businesses for success.”
The future of pro audio – and visual – belongs to the inventors. “We see commoditization continue in the audio world,” Heinz said. “What will set successful companies apart – whether they be manufacturers or integrators – will be the level of intelligence they can put behind their products and solutions. The future of A/V belongs to those willing to experiment.”