Orban/CRL Founder and VP of Engineering Bob Orban (left), and Orban/CRL President, Chairman, and CEO Jay Brentlinger (right), receive Radio World Magazine's National Association of Broadcasters 2005 "Cool Stuff" Award for the new Orban Optimod-FM 8500 audio processor.
...My first clue that something was changing came when I entered http://www.crlsystems.com/ into my browser a couple years ago and came up with the same site as when I entered http://www.orban.com/.
Now, comes the news that Circuit Research Labs will consolidate its U.S. manufacturing in Tempe, AZ., and close up the current Orban manufacturing shop in northern California. It was a huge relief to learn at least that the San Leandro brain trust, including Bob Orban, will stay in Northern California in the consolidation and move which will be completed by June 2006. The reason, of course: "increase efficiencies and reduce costs."
Pardon me if that info makes me a bit sad and nostalgic. Audio processing genius Bob Orban started his company in 1970 and innovated products like the Optimod and the Opticodec software, ultimately selling to CRL in 2000. Of course, it's not only an ending .. it's a beginning, and so I look forward to the next NAB, when hopefully Frank Foti and Orban will again face off to see who unveils the hottest new thing in audio processing. But, somehow, it just won't be the same as when it was a bit less corporate and just one very smart engineer's aggressive small business challenging another's.
(CRL's stock trades as CRLI.OB)
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