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Bill Benson, owner of Posh Speakers, is perhaps best known as the guy who built the three-story high, functional speakers at his former business, Nuts About Hi-Fi, that were a landmark on Silverdale Way for almost two decades. What most people don’t know, is that Benson has also owned Posh Speakers for the past five years.
Benson, who is definitely a sound and music aficionado, sold Nuts About Hi-Fi earlier this year, so he could focus exclusively on Posh, which custom builds extremely high-end speakers.
Benson works closely with Steve McClure, the general manager for the last 18 years, at the firm’s home office on Bainbridge Island. Posh has three offices — the main location on Bainbridge Island, one in Kingston, and one in Portland. The latter two branches are injection molding sites, where parts are manufactured.
Posh Speakers boasts some large scale corporations as clients — national retailers such as Old Navy, IKEA, Nordstrom’s, Abercrombie and Fitch, and many, many others. Benson even has a signed letter from renowned Hip Hop artist, Sir Mix a Lot hanging in his hallway thanking him for the “P2’s” that he loves.
While the company’s clients are primarily commercial, Posh Speakers also does a lot of work for government institutions such as the Federal Reserve Bank and the Exchanges.
Posh Speakers manufactures a large number of specialty and customized products. The company designs and builds speakers individually created for each project, per customer request.
Benson holds 14 patents for his innovations. Among them is the drop tile speaker that fits in a ceiling tile slot as seen in many commercial buildings. Another one of his features is a directional tweeker, a part of the speaker that you can adjust to change the direction of the music.
Some manufactures, such as Bose and Muzak, use Posh Speakers to acquire parts for their own companies since Posh Speakers builds all of its own parts. The company also produces speakers for other companies to sell.
One feature that sets Posh Speakers apart from other stereo components is the fact that its speakers all have the Underwriter’s Laboratory (UL) Certification — the nationally-recognized fire safety approval for electrical products to be installed in commercial establishments.
Benson had been a dealer for Posh Speakers at Nuts About HiFi and was very successful with the product, and believed it offered great future potential. So when he had the opportunity to buy the company from Jack Davis in 2002, he decided to invest. “I wanted something I can get my hands around,” he said.
Benson’s road to Posh has been a musical journey. His first business venture was Northwest Records, a chain of record stores where he also sold skateboards and VHS music videos from MTV.
He slowly moved into electronics through music, being one of the very first people to sell CDs — primarily to local doctors, who have remained among his most loyal clients through all his business ventures.
“Whenever I’d get a new shipment of CDs in, I load up a box and go see the Docs,” he told the Business Journal in an interview over 10 years ago.
His next move was to open an automotive-based audio equipment store in Bremerton that he called simply, Car Stereo.
Then Benson bought a building in Silverdale and changed the name of the business to Nuts About HiFi. He expanded into selling both car and home audio systems, specializing in custom home designs. He’s completed custom projects that cost as much as $60,000. It was at this time that Benson incorporated Posh Speakers into his business.
When he made the jump to Posh Speakers, he leased the building to American Marine Bank, which opened last month after a total remodel.
Benson and his wife both grew up in Bremerton. He attended West High School and Olympic College. His family was into real estate, and he was a property manager before he moved into the music and electronic business.
“It’s a great place to live; we have lots of friends because we both grew up here,” Benson said.
He and his wife chose to remain in Kitsap County to raise their two children- Amanda, 17, and Tristan, 25.
Benson has been a musician for 30 years, currently playing bass in the Brian Moritz Band. He also enjoys painting impressionist art, and traveling. His favorite place to travel is Paris and the South of France in Monaco, where he often paints.
He is on the Board of Directors at American Marine Bank, and the Foundation Board for Harrison Medical Center, where he assists at the Festival of Trees and Owen Davies Golf Tournament annually.
“It raises a lot of money for Harrison,” he said.
In the future, Benson hopes to move Posh Speakers into the international market. He already has clients in France, England, and Saudi Arabia, but hopes to acquire new clients from around the world.
To learn more about Posh Speakers, call 800-841-8501 or visit www.poshspeakers.com.
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